The First Steps in Building A Meaningful Brand Experience for your Restaurant

As we all know, the pandemic took a hard hit on several industries, especially the restaurant industry. Considering that most restaurants only reopened about a month ago, we can’t really dive into the recovery aspect yet, that will take time…

Most restaurants had to adapt and radically shift their mindset in regards to their online presence, in order to survive. Some have succeeded and others have not… We are certain that those who have succeeded did not stop investing in their marketing efforts, even though they had smaller budgets.

During this time, like many other companies did, we showed our support to our clients by adapting our offerings and putting in place specific strategies that would allow for them to boost their pickup/ delivery sales, in hopes of gaining any possible business that they could.

Models that were purely based on take out rather than dine in (i.e., ghost kitchens) were not affected as severely; but, as you all know, marketing and communication expenses tend to unfortunately be the first expenses that companies cut.

In this specific context, the overall brand experience was affected by one missing link in the chain: the on-site experience.

Now, and (hopefully) moving forward, we have the opportunity to get back on track… so let’s discuss the approach to take in building a great brand experience.  

First, let’s talk about the goal.

The goal of this approach is to attract new customers, improve conversion rates and retain customers by creating a memorable brand.

However, people tend to reduce the brand experience as a physical interaction with the brand itself, meaning within the venue. Of course, this is a big, (huge) part of the brand experience, but not the only one (especially in the evolving digital world that we live in).

Consumers experience brands long before they step foot into a brand’s physical venue. Today, it is possible to discover a brand through so many different alternatives. Such as, through social media, or through a google search where one can read customer reviews and find out more about previous experiences. Alternatives can be suggested to you through retargeting marketing. You will be able to reserve your table, order online, and even personalize your basket and delivery specifications, all from the convenience of your phone (yes, you can even be on the subway when doing so)!  

Digital is key! This not new information…

But it’s not the only factor to take into account when building a great brand experience.

1/ The Importance of Strategic Design

The first factor is the brand itself, and the work done during the strategic design process. Branding teams needs to consider the overall ecosystem, as the ultimate goal of a successful brand experience is to meet customer needs through all of your combined efforts.

2/ The Need for a Holistic Approach.

This is why working with an integrated agency that has a 360° vision, is the best way to have a holistic brand approach and to develop an entire ecosystem around it. A deep understanding of the route to market, the customer journey and the specifications of your target audience, are necessary factors to consider when building a successful brand, developing a wining strategy and memorable brand experience.

It’s all about creating an emotional connection, qualitative interactions at every single touchpoint with your brand. From advertising to purchasing, customer support and customer service, almost every customer-facing department in a company is and should be involved throughout the entire process.

As an agency, we will make sure to build the foundation of your brand and to deploy all the necessary elements to create that singular and powerful connection. However, even though we are able to guide our clients towards implementing actions at each touch point, it is also up to our clients to ensure that our marketing efforts are consistent across their internal departments. This allows for us to achieve our collective goal of building a successful brand.

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