Social media has changed the way restaurants market their business for better or for worse. But what we do know is it can be a valuable marketing tool, if used correctly.
Last week, Our Pizza Place, based in Fish Hoek, near Cape Town, warmed the hearts of many after it posted pictures on their Facebook page of pizza being delivered with a paddle boat.
“Come rain, hail or shine, @our_pizza_place will deliver hot, tasty pizzas that are simply divine,” they wrote.
Many people shared the post and commented saying it was brilliant and the best thing they had ever seen.
Co-owner of the restaurant, Jacques van Velze, said the parking lot in front of their shop often flooded when there had been heavy rain and that the night before, they received a severe weather warning and he thought it would be fun or clever marketing to show their customers that they would deliver no matter what.
Van Velze said that it was only the parking lot that flooded, so it was almost impossible to deliver a pizza in this way. But if it were possible, they would have done so.
Speaking about the business, he said the business had been started in November last year with the aim of solving social issues in their community and, hopefully, South Africa.
“One of the major issues is unemployment. We started with five staff members and, despite the lockdown, have grown our complement to 16 in under a year. I know religion can be a contentious topic, but we are a Christian family and none of this would be possible without God,” Van Velze said.
“That being said, we are also all-inclusive and proudly South African. We want to do what we can to make the country a better place for all. We are still a very young business, but it is our vision to deliver a pizza to every household in South Africa,” he said.