If you drive past Target on Lincoln Way, you have probably noticed the large Lucullan’s and The Pizza Kitchens billboard featuring a twist that is becoming commonplace in advertising — the restaurants’ Web and email address.

The Pizza Kitchens, in the heart of Campustown, has become a premiere eatery for gourmet pasta and pizza lovers.

While most students have heard or seen advertisements for the restaurant, many are unaware that The Pizza Kitchens has been using the Internet as an advertising tool for the past two years.

The use of the Internet as a means of advertising has provided unique and interesting opportunities for co-owner Mark Kassis.

“I have about 1,000 customers signed up for my e-mail list,” Kassis said. “I try to send out weekly specials and announcements to all my e-mail VIP customers to keep those customers up-to-date.”

Coupons are also a part of this weekly e-mail, offering discounts for items such as coffee, dessert or other auxiliary menu items only available to e-mail recipients.

“I try to reward my VIP e-mail customers in some way, as well as attract first-time customers with these coupons,” Kassis explained.

Although the use of e-mail coupons has been a staple of Kassis’s marketing, this method of advertising has undergone some recent changes.

“I started out sending out a lot of ‘buy one pizza or entree, get one free’ sort of specials,” Kassis explained. “The response was about 20 percent, and I couldn’t support that level of response when the list got up to around 1,000. Two hundred free pizzas was really starting to hurt more than it helped.”

Now, the e-mail showcases the weekly special menu items, and the coupons have been on reduced coffee and dessert offers.

“I will still probably send out a ‘buy one get one free’ or similar offers about once or twice a year, but I plan to stick to the current format for the majority of the year,” Kassis said.

Customer service is just one way The Pizza Kitchens uses the Internet — e-mail has also become very important in employee relations and information.

“About once a week I have an e-mail conference,” Kassis said. “My employees are supposed to read their e-mail daily if possible, and I send out information and news. They then respond to let me know that they received the message.

“In a college town, like Ames, it is easy to use the Internet for communication,” Kassis continued. “There are a couple employees that don’t have e-mail, and we have to resort to phone and hard copy communication, but the use of the Internet with most of my employees has really freed up a lot of time. There is no need to schedule a meeting around varied schedules when all I have to do is send out an e-mail.”

Overall, the extensive use of the Internet in the work place has become an increasing phenomenon. Big business has been using the Internet for years as a way to communicate with employees and to advertise products and services.

Not until recently have small independents like Kassis been able to take advantage of this resource in a similar fashion.

“A small-business man like myself can’t afford the costs of a Web master, and I don’t have the time needed to upkeep a Web site, but e-mail is something that has been an incredible asset to myself and my business at a cost well worth the expense,” Kassis said.

This includes the recent ames.net price increase that has left the URL empty.

The Web site, www.pastapasta pasta.com, has become a tremendous link of communication for the restaurant’s owners as a resource for curious patrons to find more information about the establishment’s menus and services.

“The Web site just became too costly for the number of hits I was getting,” Kassis said. “If I would get 50 hits a week that was high, and I just couldn’t justify the expense.”

Despite this downfall, Kassis has continued to use the Internet as a tool for communicating with his clientele, via e-mail.

To become a Pizza Kitchens VIP Internet customer send e-mail to [email protected] .