Pints, Forks & Friends Field Notes

I’ve been hearing about The Proper Pig Smokehouse for months now. Owners Ted Dupaski, and Shane Vidovic started out as a food truck and received great reviews which led them to open a brick and mortar store on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio 2016. As a BBQ enthusiast I connected with them on social initially, engaging and sharing their content. Recently I made the trip up to Lakewood to meet them in person and discuss hosting an influencer event with another client of mine. They gave me a quick tour, and I was blown away about how well everything was thought out. They really have their BBQ process down to a science.

They showed me how they prepared their famous brisket, also showing me their huge smokers that they named after a the famous tag team champs Legion of Doom; Hawk and Animal. They even had a movie poster of “Road House” displaying the famous cooler Dalton, played by Patrick Swayze. All kidding aside, what makes them special is their process on how timely the BBQ is smoked and how quickly it sells to the customer.

The conversation shifted to mustard. The Proper Pig uses a mustard base on their meat and other products they cook with, so I thought it would be interesting if I organized an influencer dinner with some Cleveland bloggers/influencers along with Bertman Ball Park Mustard. The event turned out great… Proper Pig prepared food cooking with Bertman Ball Park Mustard, and we had a big group table to share stories about Cleveland, the mustard war, and other influencer stories. The event generated over 80k social impressions as we were actively sharing updates as the evening progressed. At this moment, I realized how advertising/marketing has shifted to social media.

Side Notes

• They serve BBQ brew favorites – Lone Star Beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon
• Winner of Cleveland Scene Best of Cleveland “Best BBQ” 2015 and “Best Food Truck” 2016
• Proper Pig’s Menu