Your Non-Competitive Quality
My actual Italian slice, after my first bite, with roasted peppers, sautéed spinach, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.
On the way to the Jersey shore on Route 206, as you ride through Tabernacle, you’ll eventually pass Upper Crust Pizza & Italian Restaurant. They’ve been a family operated business since 1987. Their website was getting dated and they wanted to be able to upgrade the design to a more modern feel. It also needed to be responsive to mobile devices and they wanted to update their menus, employ photos of their staff, their food and be able to perform updates on their own.
I made a trip to talk to Robin Caterina, who owns Upper Crust with her husband Frank. She gave me a slice of their gourmet Italian pie and after my first bite, I was singing!
“Every business has what I call a Non-Competitive Quality or NCQ. This means that you naturally stand apart from your competition”
I like to learn more about businesses before I begin any creative work so I can first discover what makes them unique. Every business has what I call a Non-Competitive Quality or NCQ. This means that you naturally stand apart from your competition because you possess an inherent, positive quality specific to how you operate your business. It’s unique, like a fingerprint. Naturally, this quality is what people will think of when they think of your business. It becomes your brand.
In the case of Upper Crust, their whole family literally runs the restaurant and you feel like family is cooking for you when you’re there. Their NCQ is the family atmosphere and how their family serves your family. Their nightly Facebook posts feature specials in a matronly tone reminding me of the times when my mother would say, “Don’t be late tonight, I’m making spaghetti with those meatballs you like!”.
Robin Caterina and family.
Another post entitled Fab Food, features photos taken at the restaurant during an evening photo session of food shots. During that shoot, I noticed a lot of families there having dinner, and couldn’t help snapping a couple shots of one family having a good laugh during dinner. After all, life is about good food shared with family and it made perfect sense to show this on their website. This shot and others can be found on their photo gallery.
As you can see in the photo below, the before and after comparison is drastic. We employed the same logo and chose a responsive WordPress template with blog, photo gallery and menu functionality. The template was also perfect for the use of the new food and staff photos. It’s better for their SEO, a better presentation, and more fitting to their business!
A before and after comparison of Upper Crust Pizza & Italian Restaurant’s website home pages.
Congrats to Upper Crust Pizza & Italian Restaurant on their new website!
Next time you’re on your way “down the shore”, don’t just drive by. Do yourself a favor and make it a point to stop and have a great meal with your family. It will be a great start to your day.