Indian Restaurant Marketing Campaign: Tikka Shack

The launch 0f Tikka Shack required a successful Indian restaurant marketing campaign. In fact, all successful new restaurant openings require an on-brand restaurant marketing plan.

In early 2016, our existing clients at Masala Wok decided to start a new Indian food venture in Texas. The new menu would highlight Indian staples from street food to slow-crafted creations that would turn "naan newbies" into "curry connoisseurs" in no time.

This was accomplished through an easy-to-understand menu, a well-planned step-by-step ordering process, and build-your-own options that everyone can love.

We worked through both the branding and marketing process for Tikka Shack. During the branding portion of the project, we started with creating their name. Then, we branded everything from the interior to the restaurant materials, social media posts, and staff shirts. We conducted a professional food photography shoot to capture great photos of each dish. We created a brand voice that was witty, cool and on-trend. A social media campaign was created and tracked with the hashtag #ThisIsNaanNation.

With the new brand created and implemented across every customer touchpoint, we got to work on the Tikka Shack marketing plan.

Indian Restaurant Marketing Campaign

Our carefully-crafted marketing campaign took on every aspect of the Tikka Shack opening. We focused our campaign around a set of coordinating promotions to create a buzz about the grand opening. We used social media campaigns, email blasts, and a landing page that would collect emails. Each of our strategies focused on getting customers in the door.

Indian Restaurant Marketing Campaign Reporting

While our biggest goal for the Tikka Shack Indian restaurant marketing campaign was to drive traffic, we also had other goals. We also wanted to grow their social media following and gain brand awareness in their city.

All in all, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, and the store experienced sales that were relatively triple that of past sister-store launches.

The landing page had more than 3,000 visits. The Facebook page gained more than 1,500 page likes. The email subscriber list grew to more than 2,700. Not bad!

We pulled reports regularly and analyzed them during the campaign so we could make sure our strategy was on-target all throughout the campaign. Generally, we have seen that each strategy needs about six weeks to run its course. Therefore, we usually let each campaign run for about that long so we can make a good assessment about how it is working.

We Packed the Shack

During Tikka Shack's opening week, they had so much business that the owner needed to bring in an extra truckload of ingredients to keep up with the demand. Social media was active, as well. The average review rating online was 4.4 stars.

Keeping The Momentum

The significance of a solid opening effort may seem obvious. However, keeping up the speed you gain during the opening is equally important. Your restaurant marketing company should be able to provide you with a solid transition strategy as you move out of your opening phase and into an ongoing strategy.

Combining great branding with an opening marketing campaign and ongoing marketing efforts puts your new restaurant in the best possible spot to have a successful opening. After that, it's up to you to impress them with your customer service, amazing food, and flawless operations.

If you need a marketing agency for your new restaurant venture or if you're considering rebranding your current eatery, don't neglect the significance of a solid brand and a solid marketing plan. This isn't our first rodeo, and we'd love to converse with you about working with you on your opening marketing.