How Pinky Cole Made Slutty Vegan a Household Name

Whether you’re vegan or not, you’ve likely heard the name Pinky Cole. She’s the founder of Slutty Vegan, the co-founder of Bar Vegan, and a best-selling author. The plant-based restaurant empire expands far beyond its start in Atlanta, and it even makes meat-eaters like me curious about what makes the brand so special and food so sensational that everyone has it on their list when visiting Atlanta.

Who doesn’t love a good pop-up?

When I started following Pinky’s story, it was right after her food truck came to Birmingham. In 2020, she already had 3 restaurants in Atlanta and was doing food truck tours in cities across the U.S. In an interview with a local journalist, recorded on their cell phone, you can see a line wrapped around a vacant Birmingham parking. People in line said the estimated wait time was almost 2 hours. 2 hours for a burger?! What’s more impressive, and what stuck with me, were these two lines she said during the interview:

They used no paid advertising for the pop-up events in each city, only sharing events on their social media platforms. Using the perfect mix of scarcity and urgency, they were able to repeat these results in other cities. There’s only so much food a food truck can carry, and they only stay in each city for one day.

But let’s back up and take a look at the moment when Slutty Vegan started to grow exponentially.

Pics or it didn’t happen

About 4 years ago, Pinky Cole posted a photo of Snoop Dogg holding his order in front of her food truck on Instagram. The reception she received following the post told her she was on the right track. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering: why didn’t she ask him to share it with his followers? Sometimes we feel like the only way to get an ROI from influencer marketing is from being in front of their audience, but a greater return could be having their authentic testimonial shared in front of all of your followers and prospective buyers. She went on the replicate this successful model of visual testimonials with other titans in the hip-hop, acting, politics, and TV industries – Jermaine Dupri, Taraji P. Henson, Tyler Perry, Lil Baby, Tiffany Haddish, Georgia U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, and so many more have given her their rubber stamp of approval with plenty of photo and video evidence.

As her businesses grew, she invested in an in-house media team to create much of the content you see today. She formally created Slutty Vegan Productions to document the growth of her personal brand, Slutty Vegan, and her new joint venture Bar Vegan (announcement video below).

Media That Sparks a Movement

Her unique positioning of influencer marketing was just the beginning of the media frenzy her brand would incur. Her presence in news stories began to take headlines by storm. She has an incredible story of trial to triumph, and she’s upfront about her early struggles in the restaurant industry. When beginning to craft your brand story, it may be tempting to only talk about your accolades and successes, and not your failures and challenges which are equally important.

Her strategic partnerships have been mutually beneficial to her story of growth and development, adding to her earned media mentions (aka press, online outlets, magazines, etc). She’s partnered with:

• Greenwood, a black-owned bank

• Shake Shack, on a collaboration burger called the SluttyShack

• Impossible Pork, to craft their vegan chili recipe

• Beyond Meat, to introduce a non-GMO and no-soy option to the menu

What does this have to do with visual storytelling?

Despite all of these successes, what makes Pinky Cole stand out is how she leans into her story. Everybody loves an underdog. She's someone who's had a huge setback but learned from it and came back to make Slutty Vegan. If there was ever a testament to not being perfect, this is it. She was set up for success from her time in media working on the Mawry show, her first restaurant went up in flames, and she came back with a food truck and took the food scene by storm. Not only does her story stick with you, but she's developed a personal brand that is in line with who she is:

• She gives back to her Alma Mater, Clark Atlanta University, and encourages students to start businesses

• She emulates giving back by providing scholarships through her foundation, Pinky Gives Back.

• Even after she got her first brick-and-mortar, she still used her food truck to test out new markets (like Birmingham, Charlotte, Durham, and others).

She capitalized on the video testimonial from Snoop Dogg by doubling down on storytelling and building a media brand within her business. She developed an in-house production team that specializes in video and design to elevate influencer reviews, media mentions, and important collaborations. Sharing high-quality testimonials through direct-to-camera (DTC) videos at her restaurants and food trucks, creatively sharing headlines through videos and graphic designs, and allowing her audience to take a peak behind-the-curtains by sharing her thoughts and conversations with industry leaders and CEOs while inking collaboration deals has been huge.

Strategic transparency is your friend. Yes, how-to videos may rank higher in SEO, but transparency builds trust. Go slow if you have to, it could mean winning big when the time is right. Can’t wait to see how you incorporate some of these tactics into your visual marketing strategy in the new year, or like next week.

I’m heading home to Alabama soon and may spend some time in Atlanta and Birmingham while I’m there. For those of you that have been to Slutty Vegan or Bar Vegan, what should I try when I go? Reply to this email or let me know in the comments!

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