The Effort has Combined Investor-Grade Narrative Discipline with Culture-Forward Earned Media and Social Media Activation

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 30, 2025 / The Door, a lifestyle, hospitality and culture-focused communications subsidiary of Dolphin (NASDAQ:DLPN), today announced its role in architecting and executing the strategic communications campaign that introduced Hooters' new ownership and repositioned the iconic brand for its next phase of growth.

At a pivotal inflection point for the business, The Door defined the narrative, stewarded top-tier earned media, and activated Hooters within contemporary culture, ensuring the brand's evolution was communicated with clarity, credibility, and confidence. Central to the success of the effort was the transparency and coherence with which Hooters' leadership articulated the ownership transition and long-term vision, led by Neil Kiefer, CEO of Hooters Inc.

With Kiefer's guidance, The Door was able to craft clear, straightforward explanations to tell the reinvention story across business and financial media, reinforcing market confidence and enabling a more substantive conversation around the brand's refreshed identity, its continuity, and its growth.

The work generated substantial coverage across leading national business and financial outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, and Yahoo Finance, alongside lifestyle and culture coverage in People Magazine, InsideHook, Daily Mail and Restaurant Business. Together, the coverage reframed the narrative for investors, operators, and consumers alike-not as a novelty reboot, but as a thoughtfully managed transition for a globally recognized brand.

In parallel with the earned-media program, The Door capitalized on Hooters' growing social momentum by guiding the brand into new conversations with consumers, like a playful, timely exchange sparked by Duolingo's viral PR moment. As the language-learning brand's famously irreverent owl character dominated social feeds with tongue-in-cheek commentary, Hooters entered the conversation with a self-aware, culturally fluent response-drawing attention not just from audiences, but from peer brands impressed by the shift in tone and confidence.

The exchange extended the narrative beyond headlines and into real-time cultural chatter, offering visible proof that Hooters' social currency was already strengthening.

"This was about striking the right balance-serious strategy with a sense of humor," said Michela DellaMonica, Associate Vice President at The Door. "The brand's openness and clarity set the foundation, and through The Door we were able to amplify that story, protect the brand's equity, and show the market that Hooters is both well-run and culturally relevant."

As Hooters moves forward under the original founding members' ownership, the work underscores The Door's ability to navigate complex brand inflection points with discipline, transparency, and personality, delivering outcomes that resonate with Wall Street and the broader cultural conversation.

ABOUT THE DOOR

Founded in 2008 by industry veterans Lois Najarian O'Neill and Charlie Dougiello, The Door which was acquired by Dolphin in 2018, is an integrated marketing and PR agency constructed as "an idea house," with a focus on building important, viable brands through diverse initiatives. Headquartered in New York and Los Angeles, The Door represents a wide range of brands in lifestyle, consumer products, hospitality, culinary, culture and entertainment.

ABOUT DOLPHIN

Dolphin (NASDAQ:DLPN) is where cultural creation meets marketing execution. Founded in 1996 by Bill O'Dowd, Dolphin operates as both a venture studio-developing and investing in breakthrough content, products, and experiences-and a marketing consortium, featuring leading agencies across every communications discipline.

At its core, the venture studio creates, produces, finances, markets, and promotes new businesses and cultural ideas - ranging from acclaimed film, television, and digital content to consumer goods, live events and partnerships that define entertainment and lifestyle. Surrounding this entrepreneurial engine, Dolphin's marketing prowess brings together best-in-class firms including 42West, The Door, Shore Fire Media, Elle Communications, Special Projects, and The Digital Dept. Together, this collective delivers unmatched cross-marketing expertise and relationships across every vertical of pop culture - from film, television, music, influencers, sports, hospitality, and fashion to consumer brands and purpose-driven initiatives. Dolphin marketing has been the recipient of many accolades, including #1 Agency of the Year on the Observer PR Power List in 2025, The PR Net 100, and the PR News Elite 120.

James Carbonara
HAYDEN IR
(646)-755-7412
james@haydenir.com

SOURCE: Dolphin Entertainment