For nearly 70 years, Norma’s Cafe has been a Dallas institution known for Texas comfort food, Southern hospitality and a long-standing commitment to giving back.

HCK2 has helped Norma’s turn the moments and traditions that make the restaurant special into opportunities to stay visible, engage new audiences and support the community that has supported the brand for generations.

The Challenge

For a beloved legacy brand, awareness isn’t the challenge. Staying relevant is.

HCK2 needed fresh ways to keep Norma’s in the conversation while staying true to the personality and traditions longtime customers love. Rather than creating moments simply for publicity, the strategy centered on connecting signature Norma’s traditions with meaningful community partnerships and stories people wanted to share.

The Solution

HCK2 developed a PR and influencer strategy built around Norma’s most recognizable moments, from its annual birthday celebration to Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day.

For the restaurant’s birthday, HCK2 combined targeted media outreach with a tiered influencer strategy designed to reach new audiences through trusted local voices. The celebration also supported The Birthday Party Project through proceeds from a limited-edition Birthday Cake Pie, while pie and cake drops to local firefighters created another opportunity to recognize and give back to the community.

For Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day, HCK2 helped facilitate a partnership with Susan G. Komen, turning one of Norma’s most recognizable menu items into an opportunity to give back. 

Proceeds from the restaurant’s award-winning chicken fried steak, offered at a special rollback price of $1.85, benefited the organization and were supported by targeted media outreach to extend the event’s impact.

Influencer Campaigns

Birthday Campaign

Chicken Fried Steak Day

The Results

The birthday campaign generated 20 pieces of earned media coverage and 12 million impressions, while influencer outreach resulted in 15 pieces of content and 30,000 engagements in one month.

Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day extended that momentum, generating an additional eight pieces of media coverage and 12 million impressions while connecting one of Norma’s signature traditions with an important community cause.

Together, the campaigns demonstrate how HCK2 has helped Norma’s remain part of the Dallas conversation—not by changing what people love about the brand, but by finding new ways to share it.