Who Can Resist These Mouthwatering Tony Roma’s Ribs?

Why Tony Roma’s Alberta Needed A New Website

As Tony Roma’s franchise owners, Tony Roma’s of Alberta had invested heavily in the brand equity enjoyed by Tony Roma’s internationally. However, www.tonyromas.com, the Tony Roma’s corporate website, was heavily skewed towards its American franchises, and regularly featured specials and promotions not available in Alberta. As a result, customers were often frustrated and disappointed at point of sale. Furthermore, searching the corporate site for the Alberta locations was rather cumbersome.

Tony Roma’s Alberta’s Website Challenge

Tony Roma’s of Alberta needed to carve out their own identity online, without losing the Tony Roma’s brand equity they were paying for as franchisees. Tony Roma’s of Alberta now has their own site that still uses graphical elements from the corporate site to leverage their “Legendary Ribs” brand. The logo is the same, the fonts are the same, backgrounds are similar, and the mouthwatering images featured on the site come from the corporate image library. However, their site only features local Calgary and Banff locations, local menus, and specials specific to Tony Roma’s Alberta. Furthermore, finding Alberta restaurants is fast and simple using GoogleMaps and Get Directions links.

This was a fun project because I had such great images to work with. Most sites I have worked on, with the exception of Van Arbour Design, have been very text heavy. This site was one of few words! It was also a unique challenge to try and mimic the corporate site, while using my favourite WordPress framework, the Divi theme.

Are you a franchisee that needs to protect your brand investment, while still carving out your own identity? Your website is a good place to start. Contact me if you want to bounce ideas around.