case study talking dog advertising
bagel bros 4 - the team
behind the bagel 6 - background
our tall order 10 - summary
gathering ingrediants 12- insights
feelin’ the heat 16 - challenge
recipe for success 26 - strategy
build it up
28 - phase one
spread it on 46 - phase two
hungry no more 68 - impact
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lindsay tuck
account executive
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kendall tayman project manager
reilly megee art director
shelby miller copywriter
jenna becker photographer
jordan arnold digital specialist
taylor bremer strategist
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it’s as easy as abc Athens Bagel Company is located in the heart of downtown Athens’ historic district. It’s the go-to local bagel shop serving students, families, or whoever finds themselves looking for a satisfying breakfast or lunch sandwich. Started and owned by David Asman, a University of Georgia Alum, ABC offers fresh New York-style bagels with all the meats, cheeses, and spreads you could want. Entering ABC, you can see the fresh bagels on the exposed brick walls, can see into the kitchen (where the magic happens), and are able to relax at tables and chairs that look out onto downtowns Athens. Aside from their delicious bagels and spreads, ABC is unique; it is a part of the tight knit Athens community that the locals all know and love. Asman constantly looks for ways for Athens Bagel to go above and beyond simply serving up food, ways to be involved in the lives of the people who make this town so great. ABC consistently donates killer bagels to the wonderful volunteers of Extra Special People Inc., gives leftover bagels to the Athens food bank, and even uses honey made by UGA’s students. This restaurant is so much more than a breakfast hot spot.
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executive summary CHALLENGE Athens Bagel serves delicious and fresh bagel sandwiches that anyone can enjoy. The food quality, variety, and taste was nowhere near a challenge. The problem was the disconnect between the yummy, warm, and friendly ABC we knew and the ABC brand itself. ABC’s social media presence was lacking compared to the personality that the food, owners, and employees put out towards the community of Athens. In addition, the new brand personality and increased advertising and digital presence needed to reach a new target audience of adults 25-40 years old, including young adults and those with families, and raise awareness for ABC’s lunch bagel sandwiches. STRATEGY To bridge this gap, we began a total brand makeover on all social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and the website. This paired with a new friendly, upbeat brand voice, refreshed photography, and features of real Athens Bagel customers. The enticing photos and community engagement represented who ABC truly is: an Athens community staple and neighbor. Through the total brand revamp, we attracted old and new customers. Next, we tackled raising awareness of lunch bagels and reaching a new target audience by featuring children, young professionals, and adults on our social media accounts, along with photographs of lunch menu items that would make anyone’s mouth water. Art installations, new merchandise, and other promotions placed in the community cemented ABC’s place in the neighborhood. RESULTS Through key strategic efforts, we were able to strengthen ABC’s brand presence in the digital space. Social media engagement rose dramatically: Facebook by 2271.95% and Instagram by 148.57%. Through implementing paid social in both Facebook and Instagram, new customers were shown images of savory bagels - especially lunch meals - directing them towards the store and website, while current customers were reminded to revisit their favorite breakfast and lunch destination. A complete revamp and launch of the website in January created a 41.25% session increase compared to December statistics. ABC saw a large growth in post interaction across all platforms, from post likes, comments, and shares to interaction with our Buzzfeed quiz, with 227 participants.
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research approach We wanted to ascertain the eating and spending
When deciding where to eat, please rank the order of
habits of college students, our current main
importance of the following criteria with 1 being the most
customers, in order to understand what about
important and 6 being the least important.
ABC made them keep coming back. To get to the insights, we prepared a survey for college students, and 172 people participated. The results were revealing. When choosing where to eat, food quality, convenience, and price were the three most important factors. Coincidentally, when asked to identify Athens Bagel’s best qualities, these three criteria rose to the top. It was important for us to recognize where ABC was excelling so we could fix what was broken and further uplift the things that were not.
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breakfast
We also noted that both men and women are equally likely to eat lunch at ABC. While 75% of people are somewhat or extremely likely to go to ABC during breakfast, however, this number drops dramatically to 37% for somewhat or extremely likely to go to ABC for lunch. Based on this finding, we determined that our action
lunch
should be to boost social posts concerning the lunch option, promoting and offering specials for lunch time bagel lovers. This applied not just to college students, but more importantly, the locals who work downtown during the week and families on the weekends as well.
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the challenge The challenge was to create a new, cohesive brand identity that accurately portrayed ABC’s personality and spoke to both families and young individuals in the Athens community. Athens Bagel Company is a staple among many different groups within the neighborhood, however, in conjunction with a continued appreciation for the loyal college student customers, we wanted to exponentially grow ABC’s presence in a new target market: 25-40 year old local families and young adults. It was then pivotal to close the gap between the delicious food ABC was serving up and the underwhelming representation of it on social media. The social media and advertising presence did not reveal ABC’s mouth-watering food or their funny, easygoing, and neighborly atmosphere. Not to mention, it failed to address ABC’s amazing and underrated lunch options. ABC has one goal: to serve the community of Athens, students and locals alike, a breakfast or lunch that will leave them happy and satisfied.
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strengths
weaknesses
Well-liked product
Expensive price point
Appeals to a large target market
Extensive menu can be overwhelming
Downtown location
The storefront lacks color and cohesiveness
Option to personalize bagel order
Weak social media presence
Number one company on Google search
Lack of overall brand identity Lack of awareness of ABC’s lunch selections
opportunities
threats
Incentives, deals, and discount opportunities
Direct competitors such as Ideal Bagel &
Promoted social media posts
Einstein Bro.’s Bagel
Cater to the college student & Athens markets
Indirect competition from local breakfast &
Owner is willing to give back to the community
lunch spots (i.e. Ike & Jane and Mama’s Boy)
through philanthropic connections
Trend of healthy eating
Local partnerships
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ideal bagel DIRECT COMPETITOR Branding: retro, artsy, local Digital Presence: no website, Facebook (1,047 page likes) Target Market: locals & families Products: bagels, sandwiches Unique Factor: local vintage decor & “Athens-y� atmosphere
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einstein bros bagels
zombie donuts
DIRECT COMPETITOR
INDIRECT COMPETITOR
Branding: famous chain bagel restaurant,
Branding: young, colorful, fun. Zombie has a
“shmear society”
huge following on instagram
Digital Presence: corporate website, Facebook
Digital Presence: website, Facebook (1119 Page
for their local location (736 Page Likes)
Likes) & Instagram (4000 followers)
- Weekly offers on Facebook
- Food pictures, events, and reminders
- Twitter hasn’t been used since 2015
- Use their media to reach students
- Corporate Instagram used infrequently Target Market: college kids & young adult Athenians
Target Market: college kids on Facebook & Instagram - Facility is the perfect place for studying
Products: breakfast sandwiches & bagels with
Products: personalized donuts, coffee, blended
spreads at a lower price point
beverages, espresso drinks, & merchandise
Unique Factor: support of a national chain
Unique Factor: less of a meal, more of a treat.
behind them
Who doesn’t love a beautiful, yummy donut?
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key fact
promise
Athens Bagel strives to serve delicious
materials
food
To be your friendly neighbor while serving
breakfast and lunch food right in the heart of
photography, redesign of website, store
you, your family, and your friends delicious
downtown Athens. They have strong ties to
improvements, and merchandise.
fresh bagels exactly how you like them.
the community, utilizing some local ingredients
- Increase social media presence on
and participating in key Athens events.
enticing
Instagram and Facebook. - Increase engagement with consumers on
problem
social media.
Athens Bagel Company lacks a cohesive
support It feels good to walk into Athens Bagel. If you love Athens, you’ll immediately be inspired by the local, friendly atmosphere
brand identity that can be implemented
target
across their social and digital platforms.
The primary target audience features local
about. The menu classics and customizable
Although
located
Athens adults age 25-40. Athens Bagel
sandwiches will satisfy any customer that
downtown and have a strong college
offers a delicious and quick option for a
wants to feel at home when sharing a
student following, they lack the traffic of the
breakfast on the way to work, a lunch break,
meal with family or friends. Bagels don’t
lunch crowd and local adults and families
and a friendly neighborhood spot for the
discriminate, and ABC spreads the love.
living in Athens.
whole family to enjoy a meal together.
objectives
The secondary target audience is our
Easy-going, fun, friendly, and neighborly to
- Establish presence as a fixture in the
forever loyal college students age 18-24.
emphasize that when you’re at ABC, you’re
Although this group of people are current
at home.
they
are
centrally
Athens community.
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revamp,
- Create a cohesive, more attractive brand
customers, we want to keep spreading the
identity through a color and promotional
love and showing them that they matter.
that truly encapsulates what this town is all
tone & manner
“This is the kind of establishment you should take your family, your friends; everyone you love. The cozy wooden booths, the sleepy atmosphere, the delicious bagels and lovely bagel-sandwich concoctions... they make for the perfect Saturday morning brunch or weekday afternoon treat.�
Insight
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meet brad PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE Brad is 36 years old and married with two young kids. He works downtown at Athens First Bank and Trust. Athens Bagel is a go-to whether it is during the week for a lunch meeting or on the weekend after a little league game!
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meet claire SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE Claire is a 24 year old law student at the University of Georgia. She loves to walk downtown to Athens Bagel for a quick lunch and coffee after classes all morning before it’s back to the library for some more studying!
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the strategy To tackle our challenge head on, we started with a complete brand makeover. Before we could engage the community and promote ABC’s lunch options, we needed everything to be in top shape. This makeover encompassed a total redesign of ABC’s brand identity, an overhaul of the website, new photography, and a rejuvenation of their brand voice. These updates to ABC’s brand represent the true Athens Bagel personality, a neighborhood place that simply wants to serve up good food. Once the brand was cohesive, the social media revamp and advertising efforts could begin. We reached ABC’s primary target market by showing families enjoying ABC, engaging followers through reposts of user generated content, contests, and utilizing visually appealing photography. Our advertising campaign, “Community & a Bagel,” got the whole community to engage - showcasing Athens Bagel Company as a staple in the downtown neighborhood and as a place to share more than just a delicious meal. Using our new social media pushes and week-long social experience, we promoted the lunch menu in order to encourage professionals, families, and locals alike to come not just in the early morning hours but in the afternoon too. We cross promoted with other local Athens businesses, designed and executed the making of new merchandise, and threw ABC a fifth birthday party, inviting all members of the Athens community.
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byob: build your own brand ABC is your friendly neighborhood bagel joint - but they also have a fun, edgy side to them, reminiscent of a classic NYC bagel shop. They needed a brand identity that merged those two competing personalities into one cohesive look. This new identity features a brighter red, adding pops of color to the grey accents and the colorful bagel sandwiches. It also showcases grit and noise, breaking up the whimsy with a little bit of authentic New York.
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roasted red pepper
poppy seed
bagel dough
#dc3129
#333333
#70564d
DISPLAY
headline
Body
gotham rounded
gotham rounded
proxima nova
Accent2
The logo colors were updated and the alternative logo eliminated. Logo may be used in full color, white, or poppy seed.
brannboll
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New Menus 35
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cheery & humorous neighborhood vibes
brand voice
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photography ABC’s digital presence needed some livening up. Since customers primarily go to Athens Bagel for the mouthwatering food, they needed plenty of content promoting each bagel sandwich on the menu. In addition, it was important to showcase the diverse bagel lovers of Athens, enjoying the good food and the good company. The photography paired seamlessly with the brand’s new personality and image: inviting, vibrant, and relatable. The visual aspect of the social media is crucial to illustrate the friendly, neighborhood vibe, as well as to bring customers into the store.
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cookin’ up a new website As the world is becoming increasingly digital, companies are having to step up their website game. ABC’s previous website was outdated, messy, and hard to navigate - not to mention a little behind on ABC’s brand identity. Through a WordPress platform easily editable by the owner, we crafted a new website from the ground up. The new brand identity was incorporated in every element, from headers to colors to tone to photography. Pages were restructured to provide maximum efficiency for web surfers and the online ordering platform was overhauled to present the food and merchandise in a more appealing way. And perhaps most importantly, users could now see just how good ABC bagels look.
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store revamp Athens Bagel’s new print and digital identity needed to be reflected in its store. We set to work first with adding pops of ABC’s new signature red: brand new in-store signage, revamped chalk menu boards, and custom artwork. This artwork is inspired by a small painting ABC has hanging in a corner - a red and white cut-out image of a New York bagel shop. Bringing in some of Athens’ most notable landmarks, we replicated this style for five unique art pieces to adorn ABC’s walls. Finally, we created bold window decals to draw in passersby and alert the community to the new and improved ABC.
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New Exterior Window 44
Interior Wall Mural 45
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community & a (lunch) bagel Our campaign set out to do three things: bring the Athens community together over a shared love of bagels, draw in the new markets of young professionals and families, and promote ABC lunch bagels. Through the “Community & a Bagel” campaign, we were able to showcase all of the different ways you could enjoy ABC - taking some time between meetings at work, making memories with your family, or having fun with friends. ABC isn’t just a one-stop bagel shop and it isn’t just for UGA students; it’s a neighborhood place and a part of all of our daily lives. In addition, through the #BagelBreak social campaign, customers were asked why they took an ABC bagel break. Their images and insights were shared on social media, showing the community the variety of people who walked through ABC’s doors every day. The print ads also featured ABC’s lunch bagels - but the lunch promotions didn’t stop there. Whether it be by encouraging customers to try new lunch bagels through an around-town social experience, relating lunch bagels to personality types through our native advertising, or featuring lunch meals heavily on social media platforms, customers were exposed to the amazing lunch menu that ABC has to offer.
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old
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new
taking over social Athens Bagel’s customers are as loyal as the food is delicious. We’ve found this to be true after 10 months of implementing key strategies to drive user engagement and promote good vibes all throughout the Athens community. The inconsistent social media presence that existed before our involvement with the platforms, combined with a large following despite this lack of consistency, provided significant room for opportunity. We aimed to create a cohesive identity for Athens Bagel across all platforms, as well as use ABC’s digital influence to bring joy to people’s everyday lives, whether or not they decided to visit the store that day. Our team implemented a neighborly, humorous, and cheerful tone in order to relate to local Athens families, students at The University of Georgia, and even out-of-town visitors. By completely taking over social media and revamping the website, our goal was to create compelling content to give those who followed us a sense of community and vibrancy the only way we knew how: showing off our mouthwatering food in combination with the people that make Athens the lovely place that it is.
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#BagelBreak The team decided the best way to spark user engagement was to involve customers in a simple, yet effective way. The “Bagel Break” campaign implemented a series of testimonials on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter weekly where we asked customers “What does Athens Bagel mean to you?” With this, we aimed to expose the truth and importance of breakfast in general, and leveraged the idea that there is no better way to start your day than at Athens Bagel. The hashtag #BagelBreak was used in each testimonial post as a way to remind customers we’re always here, and you always deserve to take a “bagel break.”
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These bagels are life changing. Hands down best bagels in town!
Great atmosphere and food, it is a must stop for me every time we’re in town.
Athens Bagel Company a great local business.
Delicious, REAL bagels, and friendly service all from a locally owned business!
Every year is the year of the bagel for me!
Awesome bagels. Reminds me of a NYC bagel shop.
native advertising The challenge to create an engaging piece that would both interest our target market and function as a native advertisement presented itself with several possibilities. The team decided on creating a Buzzfeed personality quiz, which we encouraged customers to take and find out which bagel they should order next based on their answers to three short questions. Over 200 people took the quiz and discovered their personality’s bagel match.
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cross promotions Athens Bagel participated in a handful of cross promotions with other local Athens businesses such as OrangeTheory Fitness, Jittery Joes, and Cheeky Peach Boutique. The partnership with these companies promoted the support of shopping small, local businesses, and community.
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The unique social experience was designed to provide users with an interactive ABC experience as well as a tangible reward. With several of Athens Bagel menu items being named after popular destinations in Athens, we created “Bagel Origins.� This entailed implementing a single red sign in each of the 5 chosen locations and creating a snapchat geofilter for that designated area on each of the 5 weekdays. If a consumer took the initiative to find a location on its corresponding day, they would have the opportunity to enjoy 50% off that lunch bagel!
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merchandise With no merch, how are Athenians supposed to express their love of Athens Bagel? We set out to make t-shirts that expressed the sentiments of the entire bagel nation: Dat. Bagel. Dough. Complete with ABC-esque humor, the shirts have been a big hit with Athens Bagel customers of all ages.
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bagels around town In a guerilla art installation, ABC will play on Athens’ artistic character and place bagel artwork on manholes around the neighborhood. Not only will these bagel pop-ups add some color to the streets, it will utilize Athenians’ fondness for outdoor art and quirky, picture-worthy surprises - just another way to ingrain ABC as a part of the community.
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throwin’ out quarters How can ABC draw in new people from across the neighborhood - not just people who live and work downtown? In a guerilla marketing promotion, Athens Bagel will put “Dat Bagel Dough” stickers on quarters and place them in key spots around Athens - for instance, on downtown sidewalks, in front of promotional partners, like Orange Fitness, and in parking lots of local parks and sports fields. If people find these quarters and bring them into ABC’s Jackson St. store, they get 25% off their meal. What’s better than finding free money? Finding free money and a bagel discount.
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abc birthday party Happy 5th Birthday, ABC! To celebrate Athens favorite bagel shop’s birthday, we decided a party was necessary. The store was to be decorated with balloons and confetti and the bagel man mascot even sporting a birthday sash! To not only celebrate ABC but also the customers that support it, there were raffles going on all day, giving out discounts, free food, and free merchandise.
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neighborhood partnerships The owner made it very clear from day one that he wants to use its presence in Athens to give back. We created multiple ways to partner up with organizations already in the community to serve food for those deserving and in need. ABC already donates to Extra Special People Inc, a group that serves children and young adults with developmental disabilities. Bagels are provided for volunteers for big events, such as Big Hearts. In addition, we suggested ABC partner up with UGA campus kitchen to help combat community hunger, Athens Little League to provide post game snacks for children and their families, and create a fleet of Athens Bagel Co. bikes that could be rented out for use around town by Bike Athens riders while their bikes were under repair.
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ABC Bike 67
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instagram metrics
facebook metrics
Athens Bagel Company saw great success in
Facebook also saw an enormous increase in
Instagram engagement from October to February.
engagement, which can be closely attributed
Through the use of paid advertising, the account
to the use of paid page and post promotions.
reached more people than ever before, with
From October to February, engagement rose
a 281.53% increase in overall impressions. By
by 2271.95%. This increase in engagement is an
creating visually appealing content, as well as
indication of paid promotions ability to reach more
rewarding followers for interactions, engagement
people, as ABC’s reach increased by 397.06%.
increased by 148.57%. Of this engagement, 40% was with our primary desired target audience of 25-34 year olds. Instagram Impressions
Facebook Reach & Engagement
Oct.
AC H
Feb.
RE
Instagram Engagement
T
EN
EM AG G N
E
Oct. Feb. Oct.
70
Feb.
website metrics Athens Bagel Company revamped the website with
in January and backed with a strong social push, was received well by our target markets.
USERS
access to all ABC has to offer. The site launched
PAGEVIEWS
a new, user-friendly design that gave customers
From December to January, the site had a 41.25% increase in users and a 41.60% increase in pageviews. A user was 2x more likely to access the site from a mobile device, so mobile optimization was key. The new user-face allowed customers to access the website via their mobile device, view the menu offerings, and place and pay for the order.
+31.70% page views +11.11% session duration
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