case study

Urban Field Pizza

Turning One Story Into Many

Challenge

Urban Field Pizza came to ROOT with an unusual communications challenge: leverage Chef Nick Swanson’s participation in one of the world’s most prestigious pizza competitions to generate meaningful local media coverage—despite having a short runway and no way of knowing where he’d ultimately place in the competition.

The challenge wasn’t promoting a chef and a pizza competition—it was creating a newsworthy story before the competition even began.

Results

In just a few months, the campaign generated more than 20 earned media placements across print, digital, broadcast, and social media, including many of Denver’s leading food and lifestyle outlets.

More importantly, Urban Field gained sustained visibility that extended well beyond the competition itself—raising awareness for Pizza with Purpose, reinforcing Chef Nick’s culinary reputation, and building excitement for future events.

Solution

Rather than waiting to see how the competition unfolded, ROOT built a proactive storytelling campaign that gave local media a reason to cover Urban Field right away.

We built on momentum from Urban Field’s recently launched Pizza with Purpose initiative, connecting that story with Chef Nick’s pursuit of an international title and the restaurant’s growing role in Colorado’s pizza community. Rather than treating each announcement as a separate campaign, we wove them together into one cohesive narrative that gave media multiple reasons to pay attention. The strategy culminated in a media event that brought journalists and influencers into the restaurant, generated fresh coverage, strengthened media relationships, and positioned us to quickly amplify any competition results if they happened. While generating significant local coverage was the primary objective, we also positioned Chef Nick for national media opportunities, ensuring the story had reach beyond Colorado.

In Their Own Words

This is AWESOME! We so appreciate the efforts you guys have made on our behalf, thank you! It’s concise and spot-on… love it, nice job you guys!

Paul Nashak, Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Field Pizza

Challenge

Urban Field Pizza came to ROOT with an unusual communications challenge: leverage Chef Nick Swanson’s participation in one of the world’s most prestigious pizza competitions to generate meaningful local media coverage—despite having a short runway and no way of knowing where he’d ultimately place in the competition.

The challenge wasn’t promoting a chef and a pizza competition—it was creating a newsworthy story before the competition even began.

Solution

Rather than waiting to see how the competition unfolded, ROOT built a proactive storytelling campaign that gave local media a reason to cover Urban Field right away.

We built on momentum from Urban Field’s recently launched Pizza with Purpose initiative, connecting that story with Chef Nick’s pursuit of an international title and the restaurant’s growing role in Colorado’s pizza community. Rather than treating each announcement as a separate campaign, we wove them together into one cohesive narrative that gave media multiple reasons to pay attention. The strategy culminated in a media event that brought journalists and influencers into the restaurant, generated fresh coverage, strengthened media relationships, and positioned us to quickly amplify any competition results if they happened. While generating significant local coverage was the primary objective, we also positioned Chef Nick for national media opportunities, ensuring the story had reach beyond Colorado.

Results

In just a few months, the campaign generated more than 20 earned media placements across print, digital, broadcast, and social media, including many of Denver’s leading food and lifestyle outlets.

More importantly, Urban Field gained sustained visibility that extended well beyond the competition itself—raising awareness for Pizza with Purpose, reinforcing Chef Nick’s culinary reputation, and building excitement for future events.

In Their Own Words:

This is AWESOME! We so appreciate the efforts you guys have made on our behalf, thank you! It’s concise and spot-on… love it, nice job you guys!

Paul Nashak, Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Field Pizza

a few media hits

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