SHOWCASE: WAVEMAKER’S MK HAPPY LUNCH
THE CHALLENGE
Thai’s food industry is worth more than 400 billion THB and growing 4-5% every year. The restaurant business represents 50% of the Thai food industry while 40% is QSR (Quick Service Restaurant).
In Thailand, MK Restaurants has known as a chain of Thai-style sukiyaki restaurants that positioning itself as a family restaurant where all family members can slowly cook suki in the pot to share a happy moment together for more than 30 years. Since the Thai food industry is growing 4-5% per year so MK’s challenge is how to catch up with the food industry in Thailand.
OUR SOLUTION
Research has shown that customers of franchise restaurants can be classified into 2 periods, lunch, and dinner.
Lunch is considered as a rush-hour where consumers cannot afford the time to have big lunch sets with cost 400-500 Baht/person (MK is also perceived as an expensive restaurant). When compared to other restaurants, consumers will choose QSR for lunch which they can offer quick-serve at cheaper prices. MK’s growth strategy is to expand to QSR business by transforming the perception from a big set of Thai style sukiyaki tagged with an expensive price tag to offering quick, affordable prices, completed meals, and a variety of innovation rooted from their strength menu through promotion campaign “MK Happy Lunch Set 99 Bath”.
The core target of franchise restaurants is Thais who living in big cities. They are more than 5.3 million people who are searching for restaurants via the internet and select choose the recommended restaurants (6.6% searching increased in Y2018 when compared to Y2017), along with tendencies to believe more in influencers who are locals rather people than celebrities.
MK applied it’s promotion strategy through influencers (including popular social pages), encouraging them to change profiles to the ‘MK happy lunch menu’ visual and setting FB event as ‘going to have lunch at MK’ on the same day. Through this sequence of events, we created the hype of ‘our lunch appointment at MK’ all over Thailand.
RESULTS
After this campaign was released, we created the hype of ‘MK happy lunch’ and conversations amongst MK’s lunch customers. Some of the targets created viral clips of having lunch at MK in their own way on social media. The viral clip could influence and increase consumers’ lunch growth by 13% and sales during lunchtime was raised by 12%. MK’s brand awareness was higher throughout the campaign. The campaign resulted in 6.45% top-of-mind growth and aid brand awareness growth by 8%. Campaign return of investment is achieved at 468%.
RECOGNITION
2019 Dragons of Asia Black Dragon – The Best Brand Trial or Sales Generation Campaign.
2019 MOB-EX Awards – Finalist: Best Social Media Strategy
Case study courtesy and with authorisation of MK Restaurants
