ASK Italian wanted to make the launch of their new spring menu relevant to their core target audience of young women, and use it as a way to get this audience into their restaurants.
From hot new destinations to new ‘must try’ gastro trends, we knew a new menu on its own wasn’t going to cut through the consumer consciousness given the multitude of food and restaurant choices people are bombarded with everyday.
We knew our audience didn’t just want somewhere to eat, they wanted an experience and an experience that would also give them shareable social media content to take their experience online.
The menu we wanted to promote was focused on fresh ingredients, centred on edible flowers and fragrant herbs. And it was these fresh ingredients that inspired our idea. In partnership with florists of the moment Rebel Rebel we created a completely edible bouquet made up entirely of ingredients found in the new ASK Italian menu. And to launch it, we hosted masterclasses at ASK Italian restaurants across the country where guests could make the bouquet for themselves before trying a three course meal from the new menu.
The masterclasses were launched with a key media and influencer event at an ASK Italian in central London. Driving trial of the new menu with the media we know our audience engaged with in order to create a campaign with business impact.
Alongside using the bouquet as a vehicle to launch the new menu and get media talking about the ASK Italian dishes, we also used the masterclasses as a way of extending the activity, driving listings press that positioned ASK Italian as an experience led eatery.
The campaign was activated over a two week period and was the most successful PR campaign to date for the restaurant chain, coupling as it did media coverage that championed the quality and freshness of its food with experiences that appealed to the target demographic.
Sold out consumer events at ASK Italian destinations in London, Liverpool and Birmingham with customers buying £35 pp tickets to trial the new menu and experience
60 pieces of coverage in targeted titles including Hello, S magazine and The Sun in a two week period
The activity also secured ASK Italian’s first piece of coverage to ever appear in Time Out, a title that traditionally doesn’t cover ‘chain’ restaurants
25 national and consumer lifestyle media attended a media launch event in central London including Culture Trip, Time Out, Stylist and Marie Clare
