Uncle Tito formerly known as Straight Up Bar & Grill
Increased Social Media Followers 5x + Optimized Website for Uber Eats & DoorDash during the COVID Pandemic
Background
Straight Up Bar and Bites is a pop-up bar that collaborates with Bay Area party planners to host and cater events & parties so guests may experience a fresh new take on Filipino bar food & original drink recipes.
Straight Up was started in 2015 by life-long friends, Paolo Dayao, Joseph Alcasabas, and Joseph’s cousin and cocktail enthusiast, Randolph Cabrera. The three began their bartending days at Benihana, Taste Catering.
With this depth and range of experiences, the trio went into business on their own. When Paolo’s youngest brother and sous chef at Namu, Vince, joined the team, he added a new dimension to Straight Up’s mixology consultation and bar services: Filipino cuisine.
While creating opportunities to continue growing their base of support in the cultural district, the team has been reflecting on their journey as entrepreneurs, Filipino Americans, and as a brand. The team underwent a rebranding process that was challenging, but necessary, to reflect the evolution of their mission to build a Filipino American bar moving forward.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, small businesses suffered - and Straight Up was no exception. Operating on an event-based schedule, the shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area stalled future projects for the group. Despite this setback, the group took the time to pause, reflect, and pivot, utilizing their contacts to create opportunities for their burgeoning pop-up.
Objectives
Rebrand process to reflect their identity as Filipino American entrepreneurs.
Create a website that matches their evolution as a Filipino food concept and bar.
Attract new customers with their fun and flavorful dining experiences tailored to pandemic dining.
Strategy
Develop a more focused brand centered on their fresh take on Filipino Cuisine
Communicate the freshness and humor of Uncle Tito by employing the style of Brutalism, “anti-design”
Verbal Identity: Work with Plinth to develop a strong tagline and a voice and tone for web copy
Employ a strong emphasis on pandemic dining by developing hashtag and branding tagline #Meriendaandchill for social media
WEBSITE design
Highly inspired by Brutalism in digital design. The main aesthetic inspiration is appearing to look raw, “early web” html-only. As a reaction against cookie cutter templates that dominate websites today.
Brutalism = A reaction against artificiality and lightness.
This inspiration lead to the design of Uncle Tito’s website as it feels fresh and breaks the mold of other competing websites. It implies a sense of humor and grabs the attention of the audience. Considering the target audience of Uncle Tito, the site is also meant for entertainment purposes.
To leverage the brutalist style, keep it limited to visual design. Don’t break your visual hierarchy, navigation, or interaction design just for the sake of novelty. And stick to pure brutalism, while avoiding antidesign like the plague it’ll be for your business metrics.
SOCIAL MEDIA
As we helped train Uncle Tito business owners use their social media consistently, we also developed hashtag and branding tagline #MeriendaAndChill that encouraged their take home baon boxes & party platters due to the pandemic shutting down all dine in restaurants.
Results
As a result, Uncle Tito saw an increase in web traffic during the pandemic, optimized for Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Their social media training on consistent posting, stronger branding and tagline improved their social media metrics by 5x the followers.
With good branding and smart social media strategy anything is possible. What do you have in mind?
