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CASE STUDY Talking Dog Advertising

White Tiger

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CASE STUDYTalking Dog Advertising

Team

Background

Summary

Research

Challenge

Strategy

Impact

4

6

12

14

18

20

44

MEET THE STREAKstreak (n) • a group of tigers

Claire PaceAccount Executive

Harper BiewenAssistant Account Executive

Julia KleiberStrategic Planner

Michelle LiCopywriter

Brian LeeArt Director

Stephanie AddoAssistant Art Director

Team • 5

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLEthe world of White Tiger

Located in the heart of Athens’ historic Boulevard district, White Tiger Gourmet is a restaurant well-known as a neighborhood favorite. From BBQ to burgers to vegetarian options, head chef and owner Ken Manring creates classic yet unique dishes made with fresh, local ingredients. His wife, Melinda Edwards, works as the PR and marketing director for the restaurant, coordinating events and advertising.

Aside from the friendly, talented staff and the unique building, the biggest selling point of White Tiger is their menu, which includes delicious, rich bbq, burger, and vegetarian dishes, while still maintaining affordable prices. In addition to their regular menu, they also offer exclusive specials that change daily, such as their Krispy Kreme burger and Spicy Siracha Tilapia Tacos. White Tiger prides itself in smoking its meat every day and uses as many locally sourced seasonal ingredients as possible. Their menu is diverse and expansive, with something to fit any consumers’ preferences.

One of the things that makes White Tiger unique is the building itself. Built in 1905, the space originally housed a grocery store called “Davis House” and served the residents of the mill neighborhood. The historic building is both cozy and informal, filled with artwork from local artists. White Tiger has both indoor and outdoor seating, with a large picnic table-filled yard. At night, White Tiger can be spotted anywhere on the street from the glittering lights strung around the trees.

Background • 7

WEAKNESSES

S.W.O.T. ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS• They have a diverse and delicious menu with a plethora of

options for both meat-lovers (barbecue and burgers) and vegetarians

• The surrounding neighborhood has a large, loyal customer base, made of mostly families and townies

• Has a open, outdoor lawn with large picnic tables and little Christmas lights, perfect for eating outside during spring/summer

• Partners with local artists to showcase their work• Has a kitschy, homey vibe that feels both warm and

welcoming when customers dine in• Well-reviewed on both Yelp and Facebook

THREATS

OPPORTUNITIES

Background • 9

• Located in Boulevard District, rather than downtown, an obscure location for those that do not live in the neighborhood.

• Has a weak Instagram presence with very few followers• Website is clunky and outdated and the information is hard

to locate• The branding is disorganized and incohesive across

platforms and in-store

• The owners are very willing to work with the student population by offering discounts, freebies, and other incentives

• They can cater to both their current neighborhood population as well as students without altering location or menu

• There is a lack of direct competition within the area, especially due to their diverse menu and unique ambiance

• Interested in rebranding in-store and social presence to increase brand awareness

• There are a few direct competitors in the BBQ category such as Pulaski Heights BBQ, Saucehouse BBQ, Butt Hut BBQ

• Indirect competition with other local restaurants including Mama’s Boy, Heirloom, and The Grit

• Lack of brand awareness in college student population• Downtown Athens and Five Points both offer a larger variety

of restaurants in the vicinity

KEY FACTWhite Tiger Gourmet serves homestyle, southern dishes made with simple, fresh ingredients.

PROBLEMWhite Tiger lacks cohesive branding across social and digital platforms. They also struggle with brand awareness due to their obscure location and sparse social media presence. This also makes it difficult for them to attract the student population.

OBJECTIVESIncrease social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.

Increase rate of student customers by organizing student nights and discounts.

Create cohesive branding through a new logo, redesign of menu and website.

TARGETThe primary targets are University of Georgia students. White Tiger Gourmet provides food at an affordable price for college students and an arrangement of popular dishes.

The secondary target is locals that already enjoy White Tiger Gourmet. We want to broaden our clientele to include college students without losing our current local customers.

INSIGHT“As a college student, it is nice to find restaurants that are affordable that also have great food. It is hard to find places in Athens that have both, especially when I have a limited budget.”

PROMISEYour next-door neighbor meets gourmet chef.

SUPPORTWhite Tiger has a friendly, involved staff and a funky, locally inspired atmosphere. Their wide range of barbecue and vegetarian dishes satisfies all kinds of customers. Outdoor seating provides the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors in the fun, home-style environment.

TONE AND MANNERFun, laid-back social media tone to set a relaxed vibe that matches the location’s atmosphere.

Consistent brand image and tone across all platforms.

MEDIA VEHICLESPrint: fliers, newspapers

Social Media: Facebook, Instagram

Guerrilla: contests, student discounts

CREATIVE BRIEF

10 • Background

FROM HEAD TO TAILthe executive summary

Our challenge was broken down into two distinct categories - a lack of a clear, cohesive brand and lack of brand awareness in the Athens’ student body. There was a disjoint between the physical restaurant, a funky, local bbq and burger joint, and its digital and social presence. White Tiger had a small social following with a need for relevant, interactive content. Our research gave us insight that students at the University of Georgia had either not heard of White Tiger or were not aware of its location, but were interested in eating local with a decent disposable income. By addressing both elements of our challenge, we would be able to create a brand image that matched White Tiger and spread the newly rebranded restaurant all over Athens, Georgia.

Executive Summary • 13

CHALLENGE STRATEGY RESULTS

To tackle the two-prong challenge, we broke our strategy into two parts as well, addressing both brand cohesiveness and brand awareness. We created brand design guidelines and a brand voice that matched the homey, neighborly feel of the restaurant. We then used those guidelines to redesign White Tiger’s logo, website, and menu so their online presence matched the aesthetic of the restaurant. Once the brand was cohesive in all elements, we turned our attention to brand awareness. We amped up their social media presence by incorporating contests, visually appealing content, and user-generated content on Instagram. We promoted events and posted photo albums on Facebook, garnering thousands of consumer interactions. We designed and implemented branded t-shirts, koozies, and stickers to spread the logo to as many people as we could reach.

Through social media, events, print and digital ads, we were able to increase the brand awareness of the student body, as well as the general Athens population. Our social media grew immensely, with an 844% increase in Instagram followers to a grand total of 1228 followers. Facebook also saw an increase of 10% page likes. Where we saw large growth on Facebook was in post interaction – including a Buzzfeed article we created that reached 6,860 users with 143 shares and comments. Overall sales increased every month this year as compared to the same month of the previous year, with a huge increase of 38% in sales December 2015 as compared to December 2014. To keep up with consumer demand, White Tiger decided to open up new hours, expanding to include Monday lunch. The restaurant is now open 7 days a week for the first time in its history.

KEEPING AN EAR TO THE GROUNDthe research findings

Research • 15

Before the start of our campaign, we sent out a survey to UGA students to gather information about college student’s restaurant eating habits. We wanted to better understand this demographic and learn how much they were willing to spend on meals, what type of food they liked, and how they heard about new restaurants. We gathered responses from 58 students.

From our research, we found that 38% of respondents said they ate out two times a week. Only 6% of respondents reported that they ate out “a lot”, showing that students are more likely to get food from the dining halls or eat at home. Most people reported that they preferred to eat at places that had a local, laid-back feel.

Although students did not seem to eat out an overwhelming amount, they all reported having a good amount of disposable income, with the majority of students willing to spend $10-$15 on a meal at a restaurant. 63.7% of students said they prefer to eat local. Almost all students reported that they ate out for dinner over other meals. This research helped us understand the general eating habits of college students and allowed us to tailor our events and strategies to this demographic.

16 • Research

WILLING TO SPEND MORE THAN $15

WILLING TO SPEND LESS THAN $10

WILLING TO SPEND $10 - $15

EYES ON THE PRIZEthe challenges to overcome

White Tiger Gourmet was well-known around the Boulevard District, but that was about it. While it was a common dining spot for local townies, White Tiger was missing the opportunity to extend their deliciously rich mac n’ cheese to the vast college student population. We chalked this up to two hindrances: its incongruous brand image across all platforms and its lack of brand recognition on campus, especially due to its obscure location (read: outside downtown Athens).

So, our first task was clear: rebrand the store by creating a cohesive social and digital presence that was as visually dynamic as the restaurant itself, while still maintaining the warm neighborhood aesthetic.

Task two, spread the word! Our goal was to bring White Tiger to the forefront of consumers’ minds. We wanted to get as many people, namely students, looking at, talking about, and, most importantly, eating at White Tiger Gourmet.

Challenge • 19

DISTINGUISHING OUR STRIPESthe big rebrand

When rebranding White Tiger, we were careful in keeping the local, homey feel that emanated from the restaurant, while still building a modern and clean brand.

We chose shades of reds, oranges, and browns that embodied that warm vibe that we wanted to project consumers, matching the coziness of the actual restaurant. We contrasted this kitschy vibe with clean san serif fonts to create the perfect juxtaposition of traditional and modern.

The other aspect of our brand image was the brand voice. White Tiger already had a unique voice – friendly and neighborly – and we didn’t want to lose that. We took their voice and played with it to add elements of professionalism and wit. Not only did we want to be your next-door-neighbor, we also wanted to be quirky, smart, and sharp.

And thus, with new brand guidelines and a voice, our brand image was born.

Strategy • 21

HEADINGS IN INDUSTRY PROBody copy in Sofia Pro.

COLOR PALETTE

TYPOGRAPHY

HEX 3D3D3D

HEX FEDD4A

HEX F84523

HEX AC2C19

CREAM OF TIGER SAUCE HEX F7E4CE

BBQ BURGUNDY

CHECKERED RED

MAC N CHEESE YELLOW

SMOKE GREY

Strategy • 23

24 • Strategy

ORIGINAL ALTERNATIVES

LOGO

After the brand image was established, we dove immediately into creating a new logo.

While White Tiger’s existing logo had certain elements that matched the look we wanted to accomplish, it did not fully represent the new brand image we had built.

After designing and drafting several different options, the clients chose a clean, centric logo with a lasting modern aesthetic, while still maintaining its kitschy vibe. The logo is both simplistic and easily adaptable, two very important aspects to our client.

Strategy • 25

MENU

To match the new brand guidelines, new menus were designed and printed. The old menus were cluttered with information, so we pared it down to the basic items, keeping the look of the menu very sleek.

26 • Strategy

Strategy • 27

BURGERS

1/2 lb beef burger with grilled portobella mushrooms,

mozzarella cheese, topped with organic field greens &

tiger sauce, served on a toasted kaiser roll

The Alice Burger • 7.50

1/2 lb beef burger with cheddar, bacon, field greens &

mayo, served on a toasted kaiser roll

Bacon Cheddar Burger • 7.50

28 • Strategy

PHOTOGRAPHY

Food is the centerpiece of White Tiger, and it was important for us to highlight the essence of the restaurant to customers.

We captured photographs that matched our brand image – modern and clean as well as organic. We shot everything in bright, warm lighting to match the warmth of the restaurant.

Strategy • 29

WEBSITE

From the beginning, we understood that White Tiger needed a strong digital presence – and their website needed to be at the center of that.

Their previous website was clunky, outdated, and unfriendly to mobile users. Using the new brand guidelines, we created a sleek, easy-to-navigate website with refreshed, concise content.

It was vital that the new site be easily maintainable by the restaurant owners. Because of its user-friendly interface, we chose to create the site on Squarespace. Our new website was functional and responsive to all different screen sizes.

30 • Strategy

Strategy • 31

HEAR US ROARspreading the good word

34 • Strategy

whitetigerathensWhite Tiger Gourmet

117 likes

whitetigerathens Want to win a super soft, limited edition, glow-in-the-dark White Tiger tee? All you have to do is follow us, like this picture, and tag 2 friends to enter!

INSTAGRAM

We wanted to focus a lot of our social advertising on Instagram because of the visual nature of food. Prior to our campaign, White Tiger had a small following with few likes on content that was mostly irrelevant to the restaurant.

The first step was taking professional photos of White Tiger’s food to capture that mouth-watering element that the restaurant had, but its Instagram lacked. We paired this with friendly, humorous captions that matched the brand image and tone, and began racking up likes 5x more than their previous posts. We also ran Instagram contests, where we received a lot of consumer engagement, upwards of 60+ comments on our most successful contest.

Additionally, we created the hashtag #tigerstreak, that customers could tag when they posted pictures at White Tiger, creating a hub for all White Tiger customer photos under one hashtag. In exchange, we offered them “secret rewards” for their user-generated content.

Strategy • 35

FACEBOOK

We considered Facebook as a platform to reach the older demographic because the previous engagements on Facebook were often interactions with townies (ages 25+). We geared our Facebook posts towards this demographic, especially when advertising more expensive events such as the Valentine’s Day Prix Fix Dinner and the Tiger Turkeys for Thanksgiving. Because of the larger audience we could reach with Facebook, we also promoted things that required consumer engagement and clickthrough such as the Flagpole Athens’ Favorites’ contest and a Buzzfeed article we created entitled, “10 Signs You’re Obsessed with White Tiger”.

36 • Strategy

Strategy • 37

3 Shares

Excited to announce that White Tiger was the runner-up winner of Best BBQ Joint in Flagpole Magazine’s Athens’ Favorites! A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for us. We love you all!

White Tiger GourmetMarch 2

231 Likes 8 Comments

38 • Strategy

T-SHIRTS KOOZIES STAMPS

BRANDED SWAG

In a small town like Athens, GA, we saw the importance of a logo’s presence in as many places as possible. Like other well-known restaurants in Athens, we wanted to put our logo on everything to spread brand awareness, not only on campus, but in the Athens area. We mocked up a variety of items including stickers, tattoos, stamps, etc. Two of our mockups came to life – the t-shirts and koozies, available for purchase in store today.

Strategy • 39

DIGITAL ADVERTISEMENTS

We designed several advertisements for White Tiger’s social accounts and website that promoted their events, menu items, or announcements. These ads ran on Instagram, where they reached their primary target audience of students, as well as Facebook, where they reached the secondary audience of local townies.

40 • Strategy

Strategy • 41

STUDENT SHINDIG AD MENU PROMO AD VALENTINE’S DINNER AD

42 • Strategy

EVENTS

To reach out to the student population early on, we planned Student Shindig in early November that featured the Tuten Brothers, a local band, and special deals for the students who came. Despite the poor weather, students still came out in masses, filling out the entire restaurant, with a line out the door.

Our second student night event was in late March and had much higher attendance. We booked Classic City Live, and they played for a packed out lawn. The special of the night was a Krispy Kreme donut burger – a mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger between two grilled donuts. We even created a sponsored Snapchat filter for customers to use when they took pictures at the restaurant.

Strategy • 43

MAKING OUR MARKthe impact and results

Impact • 45

Statistically examining progress on social media platforms, we saw a rise in White Tiger’s Instagram followers, a 845% increase in 6 months. Instagram interactions increased 5x, now garnering an average of 50 likes per post. Instagram contest posts received an average of 30 comments with consumers, with our most successful contest getting 63 interactions.

SOCIAL

Facebook also saw in increase in page fans, from 1,773 to 1,950, a 10% increase in 6 months. Additionally, Facebook also saw a much larger organic growth in post interaction, with a single post garnering 230 likes and a reach of 6,860, higher than any content ever put out.

INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK

130 1,228followers

Oct 2015followers

Apr 2016

1,773 1,950likes

Oct 2015likes

Apr 2016

845%

10%

EVENTS

46 • Impact

Every year at Thanksgiving, Ken and Melinda smoke and fry turkeys for people to pick up the day before the holiday. We set up a food photoshoot and photographed an entire Thanksgiving feast. We created an ad promoting these turkeys, which was digitally posted on all social platforms, as well as printed in Flagpole Magazine. Our advertisements were highly successful, more than doubling the turkey sales from the previous year. White Tiger sold out of turkeys, making a total of 67 turkeys before Thanksgiving.

This Valentine’s Day, White Tiger planned an intimate event featuring a six-course menu. By pushing out ads on Facebook and Instagram, we filled up all 24 spots the week prior to Valentine’s Day. Even more impressively, on the night of the event, the guests were so satisfied with each course that they clapped every time Ken entered the room.

TIGER TURKEYS VALENTINE’S PRIX FIX DINNER

30 67turkeys

2014turkeys

2015

EVENTS

Student Shindigs were another measurable success of ours.

Our first Student Shindig, in early November, was successful, filling the restaurant to capacity and selling out of the student special, despite being held on a rainy day.

Our second Student Shindig, in late March, garnered even more success, filling the indoor and outdoor seating areas, with lines out the door. Sales increased 68% as compared to a typical March dinner revenue.

Additionally, the Snapchat filter we created for the night had 38 users, generating 3,000+ total views during the next 24 hours. The filter was $5, costing only $00.0015/impression.

STUDENT SHINDIGS

38users

3,326total views

.0015¢cost per impression

SNAPCHAT RESULTS

Impact • 47

$5cost of filter

WEBSITE

48 • Impact

4,397site visits

10,933page views

55%mobile visits

WEBSITE INTERACTIONS FROM FEB 2016 - MAR 2016

MOBILEVISITS

DESKTOPVISITS

White Tiger’s redesigned Squarespace site launched in early February and already has 4,000+ site visits and 10,000+ individual page views.

The majority of site traffic was driven from Google. Over 60% of users found their way to White Tiger’s website from search engine results. The new website’s advanced search engine optimization allows more people to find the restaurant online.

Most importantly, over half of the site visitors came to the site via mobile. The old White Tiger Gourmet website was not mobile friendly, making website view on mobile a very hard task. Our new website is highly adaptable on all devices, especially for mobile, but also tablets. This adaptability helped to include mobile users into viewership.

3,569unique visitors

63%Google referrals

45%desktop visits

SALES & OVERALL IMPACT

OCTOBERNOVEMBERDECEMBERJANUARYFEBRUARY

+ 18% + 4%

+ 38%+ 3%

+ 15%

SALES INCREASE AS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR

Impact • 49

Late March, towards the tail end of our campaign, we sent out a second survey to gauge brand awareness and public opinion of White Tiger. Our survey received 25 responses, with 88% of our respondents now having heard of White Tiger, and 60% reporting that they had eaten at the restaurant. When asked to describe White Tiger, the responses were overwhelmingly positive, including, “yummy, mouth-watering food”, “quaint, cute, eclectic, authentic, local, homey, yummy”, and the ever-so-classic “dank as hell.”

Finally, we looked at overall sales, which increased every single month this year when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. November and January increased between 3-4%. October and February saw significant increases between 15-18%, but our greatest sales spike came in December 2015 with a 38% increase in comparison to December 2014. Due to increasing demand from customers, White Tiger also opened up new hours, expanding to lunch on Monday. In a historic milestone, White Tiger is now open 7 days a week for the first time since its conception.