Bringing the authentic taste of Japan to the UK

Happy Samurai approached MintTwist with a mission to bring in more “bums on seats” in their new Japanese restaurant, located in the heart of Greenwich, London.

After dipping their toe in the social realm, the Happy Samurai team realised that they needed help conveying their awe-inspiring restaurant concept into a social masterpiece.

They wanted to raise awareness of their new store, create an online community of locals to the diner, and lay the foundations of a brand which would one day be global.

The diner bears authentic Japanese cuisine made with fresh produce, and fish caught the same day, flown in from the Caribbean waters. The traditional nature stood as the brand’s number 1 USP and thus essential to carry through onto their social pages.

Reimagining social branding for a ground-breaking brand

Acing the branding for both their Facebook and Instagram pages was vital.

The client wanted the overall look to not be too fancy, clean, or polished like most Japanese restaurants out there. It needed to be authentic, friendly, and organic. We achieved this through a mixture of bright colours, lending inspiration from the backstreets of Japan, and a crowded appeal on the feed.

Another aspect of the branding is that it needed to correlate with the diners themselves.  The viewers needed to feel as though they are entering the restaurant when visiting the profiles and viewing content. Characters were taken from a mural located in the entrance of the restaurant. This way, stepping into the restaurant now mirrors that which you’ll see on across their socials.

Where creativity meets strategy

In addition to the creative set up process, MintTwist carried out a full social audit, including in-depth analysis of their industry using social listening tools, audience, and competitor analysis.

From this, we constructed an overarching social strategy to break out of the norms of Japanese restaurants and lay out a content strategy to help both reach and interest their target consumers.

Thereafter, we developed an accompanying topic list and monthly content calendar which aimed to outline their unique brand offering and values as well as showcase their fun, playful personality through the means of colourful and interactive posts.

Launching the restaurant with a bang

Prior to the launch date, the MintTwist team populated social feeds so newcomers would be greeted with powerful content upon discovery as opposed to blank pages. The pre-launch strategy focused on conveying the Happy Samurai story, unique selling points, and what to expect going forward… fun and food!