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Summary
Yamashiro has been an iconic Los Angeles landmark and destination since its original founding in 1914. With its gourmet menu led by the incomparable Chef Vallerie Archer, the restaurant has thrived in recent years. With the sweeping devastation that COVID has brought to the industry. Yamashiro leadership knew it needed a powerful ally as it emerged into reopening its outdoor dining experience.
TLK Fusion understood that aligning the brand with powerful celebrities and industry influencers was going to be key to showing that even in the midst of a crisis, that the outdoor dining experience not only was safe, but as the grounds surrounding the facility are large, needed to fill to capacity to assist in bringing the local community back together.
The Challenge
With the general tourist and local diners still hesitant to return to a full dining experience, reservations were lagging behind. Taking advantage of the downtime during COVID, Chef Val had created a whole new menu that offered a new take on its original gourmet offering.
Yamashiro, while not lacking in visibility, needed a new way to reach out to the local diners to show the outdoor dining experience that offered incomparable views of Hollywood and the Los Angeles basin. There was a need to return to pre-COVID reservation levels and change the business results that the shut down had forced.
Knowing it’s powerful connections into the pop culture of Los Angeles, Yamashiro came to TLK Fusion for fresh ideas to bring the diners back.
The Solution
TLK Fusion had an immediate solution for Yamashiro. With its powerful rolodex in the celebrity and influencer community, the team immediately surfaced several names that would help Yamashiro reach the desired diners. TLK Fusion knew that Yamashiro needed to tap into their dining audience, and have a story that resonated within the Los Angeles community.
TLK Fusion has developed long-term relationships with the needed celebrities and influencers. TLK Fusion constructed a strategic plan to target the reach and worked with Chef Val to create an exclusive Samurai Burger that would be positioned through social media on National Cheeseburger Day.
TLK Fusion immediately got to work and initiated a hyper post of a dynamic image of the Samurai Burger and sourced over 40 local celebrities, influencers, and media outlets to assist in driving the Samurai Burger viral. Starting at lunch time, the team coordinated a structured post blast of Instagram Stories that began to flood the platform that lasted well into the evening hours.
The Results
On National Cheeseburger Day the total reach of the Instagram posts dominated the feed with a reach of over 50 million followers and drove continued reservations to capacity for the evening and the weeks that followed. The reach and level of individuals involved would have come at a cost of over $40K, however due to the connections at TLK Fusion was delivered at the cost of the burgers! The extra benefit was the immediate lift in Instagram following and increased engagement on their platform.
Yamashiro is again one of the top dining experiences in Los Angeles and is seating to capacity every night.
