PROJECT OVERVIEW

FEAST by Jon Matsubara

Slug Media consults on digital marketing and social media efforts for FEAST, a new, casual family-owned restaurant in Manoa serving up chef Jon Matsubara’s refined grinds. Slug Media also provides media placement, content creation help and guidance on hospitality industry best practices.

Social Media

FEAST contracted Slug Media to strategize their social media to grow awareness for the restaurant and expand the fan base with emphasis on Instagram. Slug Media met weekly to document and promote weekly specials and provide strategic guidance on how to convert social media posts to sales. Slug Media created various digital promotions and identified or modified products to increase bottom line. Slug Media doubled FEAST’s Instagram fan base in six months and increased post engagement exponentially with outbound engagement, consistent posting, and reposting guest photos to further encourage more posting.

FEAST’s voice is unique and blends Matsubara’s jovial character, a touch of 90s hip-hop and a local tone to resonate with kama‘aina guests.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

FROLIC’s Night In – Virtual Dinner Series

As the Assistant Editor of FROLIC Hawaii, Thomas Obungen was tapped by Village Bottle Shop’s Tim Golden and The Butcher & Bird’s Chuck Wakeman to bring the idea of a beer dinner pairing to life in the era of COVID. The goal: bring awareness (and business) to struggling local food establishments with an interactive virtual element and an exclusive paired three-course menu. Two Zoom calls, hundreds of text messages, 34 emails and 48 hours later, tickets for FROLIC’s Night In were live for two back-to-back dinners supporting four local businesses.

EVENT PLANNING

Considering the following: a new islandwide stay-at-home order, a complete ban on dine-in and retail services and strict social distancing measures. These meant this event would be unlike any Thomas or FROLIC Hawaii has ever hosted, or so it seemed. The only difference in this event would turn out to be the venue which was 100% online, a space FROLIC knows very well being an online-only publications since its inception.

In the matter of 36 hours, both chefs were working on three-course menus crafted exclusively for this event and drink professionals were challenged with pairing them. Saturday’s dinner by The Butcher & Bird was a fall-inspired feast of pork with an Oktoberfest pairing of three German beers. Sunday’s dinner by chef Colin Hazama of his new C4 Table venture featured an haute take on Hawaiian kampachi with a vanilla bean sauce and paired it with a gorgeous junmai sake from Hyogo prefecture’s Hakushika brewery. Tickets were set at $55 per person, a bargain for the level of food and drink this event commanded.

These meals were paired with one-hour plus long Zoom webinars moderated by Thomas with the chefs and drink professionals as co-hosts of the evening. Over dinner, they swapped stories, ignited passions and interacted with an audience doing the same in the comfort and safety of their own homes. For a debut event, it went as smoothly as possible with many takeaways to improve on events in the future.

The main indicator of success was the overwhelming response from 100% of the attendees who responded to post-event surveys would attend the next event.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Island Vintage

Slug Media provides social media marketing and restaurant consulting to Island Vintage Corp, which operates a growing number of coffee shops in Hawai‘i and Japan as well as a popular shave ice stand and wine bar at Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki.

restaurant consulting

We meet with Island Vintage management on a regular basis to discuss challenges and assist with problem solving within the restaurant sphere. This includes having a hand in menu and product development, implementing and marketing new products that impact the restaurant’s bottom line and generating exposure through thoughtful and useful content. Day-in and day-out, Slug Media continues to observe and learn the ins and outs of Island Vintage Corp.’s business to identify what is working well and what wasn’t in an effort to streamline processes and help the restaurants focus on providing delicious, appealing and healthy local food in a crowded visitor market.

Social Media

Slug Media is responsible for the strategy and management of Island Vintage Corp.’s English language social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram (Coffee/Wine Bar/Shave Ice) which have a combined following of over 27,000 highly engaged visitors and local residents. Content on Island Vintage Coffee focuses on the use of local, farm fresh ingredients and plays up the natural beauty found across Hawai‘i. Content on Island Vintage Wine Bar blends wine and ingredient education with casual elegance and the feel of accessible luxury. Content on Island Vintage Shave Ice reinforces the joy of shave ice that is local, homemade and celebrates the guest experience.

Slug Media produces numerous pieces of content every month for use in social media, press releases and advertising in addition to an IGTV series called Island Wine Time hosted by Mark Cartland, the wine director at Island Vintage Wine Bar. We blend Cartland’s sommelier knowledge and expert storytelling skills to teach viewers about wine in a casual and easy-to-approach format that is enjoyable for beginners and experts alike.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Waikiki Tea House

New York City-based Lady M Confections Co. retained Slug Media to craft high-quality content and manage the social media accounts for their Waikiki Tea House cake shop on Beach Walk, in the heart of Waikiki. Lady M is world-famous for their airy 21-layer mille crêpes cakes and Waikiki Tea House is the only shop in Hawaii to carry them, making it a destination for sweet tooths and pastry fiends.

Content creation

Slug Media conducted monthly content shoots to feature new arrivals, branded omiyage (souvenir) products, and cafe beverages. Slug Media also assisted with menu and signage graphic design for the cafe. Props like flowers, fruits and other natural materials were used to enhance photo staging and create a scene that enhanced Waikiki Tea’s hidden gem appeal on the quiet side of the bustling tourist district.

Social media

Slug Media crafted a relaxed posting strategy and scheduled posts a month in advance with the goal of generating awareness and engagement among guests. Posts focused on the exacting aesthetic of the pastries and confections and branded them with an element of timeless Hawaiiana with a hint of British high tea service. Slug Media increased the follower base by 50% in four months and increased total impressions over 170% to 159,000 total impressions from August to December 2019.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Wedding Ring Shop

Struggling to connect with their audience online, Slug Media developed a social media and digital advertising strategy from the ground up for The Wedding Ring Shop, Hawaii’s premier source for engagement rings, diamonds and jewelry. This project involved crafting unique content with employees and educating them on social media best practices to further develop their own way of connecting with existing and potential clients.

Content Production

We pitched, shot and produced a collection of videos that showed the beauty of The Wedding Ring Shop’s coffers, its signature top-notch service and the delightful demeanor of the award-winning sales team. Slug Media also produced imagery for the unique in-house art (designed by Library Creative) used in advertising and email marketing to their extensive database of clients.