Individual Case Analysis*€”Hottie Hawgs Smokin BBQ Embraces Its Future
Background
Hottie Hawgs Smokin BBQ (HHBBQ) is the creation of two long-time best friends Eric
Rybka and Kyle Vaughn back in 2008. Vaughn, a smart minded entrepreneur, and Rybka, a
very knowledgeable man who had been in the catering business for over 25 years, together
they decided to partner up and open up their own catering business. Since Rybka knew
Vaughn had a talent for cooking up Texas-style barbeque, together they decided to open up
a barbeque catering business. In August of 2008 they bought a truck and a rolling kitchen
and smoker trailer. Marketing and branding were very important for the two rights from
the start. They knew they wanted to incorporate hot women into their brand, very much
like Hooters. By hiring hot women they were hoping to offend a lot of people to make the
brand infamous. After much thought Vaughn finally came up with the perfect name for
their company which was Hottie Hawgs Smokin BBQ. With such a name they knew they
had to have a logo just as creative, and what they came up with was a seductive blonde pig
in a strapless red dress with an eager look. They wrapped the trailer and truck with the
name and logo and appropriately named them The 18 Squeeler and Boss Hawg. HHBBQ
set them apart from other BBQ companies with their modern and sexy look.
Because Vaughn had traveled the country tasting all different kinds of BBQ sauces and
was well read in the subject matter he had the tongue to come up with new distinct flavors
