This is how Premium Sushi with a new brand identity creates the wow effect as well as a sales boost
In the distance you hear a scooter approaching, ding-dong. Already?!
Within half an hour, you have the sushi of that one new business from Hoeksche Waard in your hands. You plop down on the couch, remove the plastic lid from the Chef Selection box, pull apart the chopsticks and dip your first roll in the soy sauce provided. For a moment you imagine yourself in Japan, while the bottom of the box gradually becomes more visible.
While you are still savoring that delicious sushi, you immediately know where you are going to order again next time, but which establishment did you actually order from? This is exactly the question that entrepreneur Koen vanPremium Sushiwants to tackle with their new branding, because just like meeting new people, don't you want your name to be remembered after the first encounter?
Branding: the solution to many challenges
Providing the fastest delivery and highest quality sushi within the area is one thing, but that alone won't cut it in the world of delivery and take away these days. Your brand must stand like a house to stand up to the many competitors, every single order. On top of that will soon come the plastic ban, in which from 2024 all catering businesses will have to move away from plastic, which is widely used in delivery and take away.
"Then I started thinking: since everyone will suddenly switch to cardboard food boxes by then, the price is bound to go up. So I have to get there early."
A quick Google search already yields many results: hundreds of different providers of simple cardboard boxes, but whether they really look that special? No, that won't get you noticed. Now that Premium Sushi was going to switch to the more sustainable material anyway, this also seemed like the perfect time to start a bit of marketing.
"Everybody takes pictures of their food these days, and of course from a plastic container like this, people are never going to see that it's ours. You just have to have something special that nobody has and that's personal branding."
But a visit to Westfield Mall of The Netherlands happened to offer the solution: La Catrina. A Mexican restaurant in the busy mall drew attention viatheir powerful logo on the food boxes, supplied by The Branding Club.
La Catrina |Westfield Mall of The Netherlands
Shrimply the best
Inspired by La Catrina's food boxes and hounded by a dwindling quantity of food boxes in Koen's warehouse, they contacted The Branding Club immediately after their visit to the mall. The solution to their problems: a large order of printed food boxes. Only then did it dawn on Koen: their logo, created in Canva, really didn't want to be placed on such a large order as this.
"We still thought it was quite a lot of money at first, but in the end we are really very happy with what it has brought now. And it went pretty smoothly!"
To the drawing board! Together with the designers of the Design Studio we got to know each other and of course the concept on location at Premium Sushi. Very attached to the colors pink and black should remain in the new design. A guideline like this is no limit to the creativity of the designers, because after a number of design proposals and feedback sessions, all elements have already been designed: the new Premium Sushi brand identity is born and recorded in the brand book!
"Then suddenly they came up with a proposal and we thought, wow! We were really super happy with that and we had never seen designs like that before. It was cool and also had character."
The real work begins after the design phase: translating the brand identity. Premium Sushi is a new business that has been actively advertising since its launch. The new brand identity takes this to a new level. All expressions, from a shopping cart and banner to a revamped website, have been redesigned. Thus, the elements from the brand book form the basis for all expressions of Premium Sushi. This is important for the recognizability of the brand, but also pleasant for the employee managing the social media, for example. The brandbook creates a clear visual identity, both for (potential) guests and everyone who works with it.
And so is the brand book futureproof? Absolutely! Koen likes to think ahead, which is why he is already developing a franchise book. The guidelines within the brand book will be implemented by future franchisees so that the same house style is used in every franchise.
Loyal guests from the first order
That powerful hospitality branding pays off on many different levels is a fact: in the articleWhat does branding pay off for hospitality businesses?we discuss it in detail, but for Koen the brand book also provides structure, clarity and peace of mind.
"You just have a handhold. You have the fonts, color types, the logo, the secondary logos, and you have those reflected in everything, so it's very easy. It's just very pleasant to work with."
However, the biggest benefit is a big sales booster: outside the holidays, Koen expects a 40% increase in sales after deploying personalized hospitality products. Most of this turnover will come from repeat orders.
Previously, the percentage of guests who ordered with some regularity was about 5%. This percentage is obviously not sustainable enough for long-term existence. Koen figured out what this was due to by asking one-time guests. The answer is actually quite obvious: this large group of guests had simply forgotten where they ordered the delicious sushi.
"That first time is just the most important thing. If that's not special, or doesn't make people feel good, then they're not going to order again."
As we mentioned, just like meeting new people, a first positive impression is crucial to ensuring that your name is remembered. This also applies to the hospitality industry, where competition is cutthroat and word of mouth is the most powerful form of dissemination for the appreciation of your brand.
The secret lies in this with branding: a personalized brand identity that (potential) guests thus recognize, remember and do not forget.
