Prashad

The brief

The hospitality industry took a hard hit with lockdown bringing businesses to a standstill. We helped to ensure Prashad stayed connected with their supportive customers online.

Prashad has a dedicated following and an excellent profile, but they wanted to build both the reputation of the restaurant, and of the head chef, Minal Patel. Our task was to take their brand identity to the next level, raising Minal’s profile, increasing social media engagement and followings, and converting this activity into an increase in restaurant covers as soon as the pandemic came to an end.

They needed an agency who could share their digital marketing expertise to offer solutions that would enable Prashad to continue to generate revenue while lockdown restrictions were in place, and capitalise on social media engagement as soon as guests could return to the restaurant.

Growing a social media audience

Growing a social media audience can be relatively simple – growing an engaged social media audience that drives business is more of a challenge. Fortunately, Prashad’s many years as a beloved fixture for Leeds and Bradford foodies, and more recent TV stardom, meant they already had a solid following across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Step one was to find out who that existing audience was, and what they liked. Step two was to find out who was missing from it, and what kind of content would attract them to Prashad. Step three was to work out the right mix of content styles, post frequencies and targeting to build an effective social media strategy that would ensure a strong return as soon as the restaurant could fully reopen.

Coronavirus fundraising and community engagement

During lockdown, Prashad transformed from an authentic Gujarati restaurant-based experience into the most gourmet Indian takeaway you can get. Once things were back in motion, we had three goals in mind, and moved quickly to make them happen: increase orders, promote Prashad’s community-minded values and be a ray of sunshine during the darkest days – and #CommunityChaat was born!

The core idea of #CommunityChaat was to encourage Prashad’s customers to donate a little extra when ordering takeout. Then we would encourage customers to nominate people or groups that they wanted Prashad to help – key workers, NHS staff, care homes or families struggling through the lockdown.

Within the first few days of the campaign, Prashad saw over £400 donated through orders alone, which went towards feeding those in need within their local community. Keeping their online community up to date with video and photo posts, we maintained a steady stream of donations – now possible via order or direct through their website.

All the while, we were working toward our original goals. In addition to #CommunityChaat, we have delivered tantalisingly tasty social campaigns, helping to maintain and develop Prashad’s brand identity across social media and solidifying Prashad’s place among the popular plant-based influencers of Instagram.

As Prashad’s restaurant re-opened, we wound down #CommunityChaat after raising over £1,700 to deliver 350 free meals.

With lockdown rules relaxing, the focus moved to encouraging customers to return, and on promoting the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. Thanks to our efforts, which included a video tour of the restaurant and consistent messaging across all platforms, we were able to help Prashad get fully booked up once again.

Since working with Prashad to help them through the lockdown, they’ve returned to full strength and we’ve been so proud to see their restaurant thrive. The Splitpixel team were honoured to be guests at Prashad during the filming of their The Hairy Bikers Go Local special which aired in January 2023.