Growing up, we always have one or two dishes in mind, dishes that are just so iconic that you could probably taste them just looking at them.
This could be mom’s roast chicken, or your aunt’s spaghetti, or something a little fancy nancy from a five-star restaurant where they probably first set your food on fire or cracked it open with a luxury spoon. For some people it is a sense of comfort and home, while for others it is the moment they realised they found a new passion. The point is, it has a wonderful memory or story attached to it.
Food plays a remarkably big part of our culture, upbringing, personality and even possibly says something about your lifestyle choice. You can tell a lot about your target audience by describing their ideal dinner situation.
So as much as food sits in a special place in our heart (and stomach), so do the brands that represent those foods and moments. The serving brands are often what define much of our food memories, whether it is the decor, the menu or even the staff and online presence.
Let’s look at Tony’s, they must have done something right, because they are one of the oldest Italian restaurants in NYC. They built quite a name for themselves, partly for amazing food, but also because of some excellent, but more importantly, consistent brand communications.
Food Content Samples
They have developed a brand so honest and true to their family that it is hard to not be consistent. When a brand reflects such true consistency, it is key to keep the ball rolling, which is why at Project V Studios, we used social media to let the food and culture of the restaurant speak for itself.
One of the greatest branding elements for consumables is recall value. This is that simple reminder or image in their mind that truly defines a brand for what it is. A prime example of this is the iconic red and yellow branding, burger and clown that make up McDonalds in our minds, no matter where or who you are. When people recognize your brand as an experience, you have truly made it in the food industry.
Tony wanted to ensure that whenever you walk through their doors or swipe to them on social media, you feel the same sense of warmth and shared family values through traditional Italian food as they do. Now if you ask me, nothing says comfort like big plates of Italian food. Now if this food porn doesn’t make you hungry, you need to get that checked out.
Contest Sample
Ads Samples
This project was a collaboration between Social Exposure and Project V Studios.
On a different side of things (in the same city), we have the Ragtrader. Let’s put those family stories and values aside for something a bit different… Or maybe not, we don’t judge.
Content Samples
Home to vintage nostalgia with a touch of sexy (or a lot), we kick things back to burlesque times and their Saturday night event called Le Boudoir ft. burlesque dancers.
For this restaurant, driving traffic was the most important thing, in this case it is not the family values or emotions we need to drive, but the desire for entertainment while enjoying food. This gave us more to play with because we have multiple interest points to play on, such as a private event, entertainment, drinks, food or just being social. It gives us a great opportunity to set a strong and clear call to action.
Ask yourself, what do you want them to do? What is your goal for the brand and how can your audience help you achieve those goals? Now make sure your call to action asks them to do so.
Fliers and posts samples
Ads Samples
This project was a collaboration between Social Exposure and Project V Studios.
Using culture always allows for a great differentiation, it allows your brand to niche down in the right direction, even if it is only slightly. In Miami we have Hy Vong, a restaurant that is not only a
Content Sample
Genuine representation of the Vietnamese culture but also holds on to a dear story of a mother starting a new life with her unborn daughter in a foreign country. By now you probably understand what we are doing. It is important to find out exactly what creates an emotional connection, it could be shared value, an emotional story, pleasure or empathy just to name a few. It is important to make your connection their connection rather than showing off your product or service. Once you have an emotional connection, you can use your product or service to further push the idea, because your product/service might change, but your brand will always be tied to the value you provide.
This restaurant is no longer running, but because of the consistent brand representation, it now shifted the same audience support to their new product, a cookbook.
People buy into stories and memories. Every restaurant serves food, but not every restaurant sells and shares a genuine story. And let’s be honest, the longest standing restaurants all have amazing stories that we all know and love and as creatives, it’s our job to make sure these stories are being told through branded content, experiences and shared value.
Print Samples
Stay in touch
Whether you’re an old restaurant or a brand new one. We’d love to help grow online and reach your target audience.
Feel free to reach out to us at info@projectvstudios.com