Digital strategy for restaurant dedicated to Le Saint-Hubert, a French family business located in Briare-le-Canal, a major tourist attraction in the Loire Valley. It sells soft drinks, alcohol, local wines, snacks, cheeses, local food and dishes from the tradition of French bistros. The place is charming and singular: in a typical French village, in a district protected by the “Monuments historiques de France“. The best value of the place is the wide terrace, a 180 degree panoramic view on the canal, nature, boats and marina. A perfect place for families, senior, lovers and tourists.
Context | Facts & Figures
Partner : Restaurant Le Saint-Hubert (Loire Valley, France)
Project : Digital strategy for restaurant (F&B Industry)
Type of services : Solutions for local company (BtoC, BtoB & HR com)
Type of products : Showcase, Blog, Social content, Flow & Stock content, Native ads
Type of strategy : Non-price competition (Quality, Innovation & Design improvement)
> See the Achievements & Results
> See the Showcase report (Website)
> See the Social content report
> See the Brand content & Native Ads report (Blog)
> See the Brand content report (Food pictures)
> See the Brand identity report (Sound design)
Le Saint-Hubert : company description
Le Saint-Hubert is a local family business (SME) founded by my parents, integrating four partners in charge of Business Development, Administration and Accounting, General & Floor Management, PR & Communication Strategy. In response to the crisis and the decline in purchasing power in France and Europe in the early 2010’s, Le Saint-Hubert has implemented a more attractive pricing policy, focusing on simplicity, quality and French-style conviviality.
Partner’s needs
The company needed a comprehensive digital strategy to keep pace with new uses and attract new customers. Moreover, in 2012, a serious e-reputation crisis hit the brand. My main mission was therefore to clarify the hierarchy of the company’s products and services, increase the digital visibility of the brand, improve its e-reputation and put in place tools to stay in touch with its community. In 2021, after the COVID crisis, the ailing company was restructured to improve its operations and efficiency. This is a work in progress, more information will be regularly updated on this page.
Digital strategy for restaurant : big picture
How to communicate on digital platform for a local company, with honesty, pedagogy and effectiveness ? How to seduce families, seniors, tourists and travel agencies in the same time ? How to improve a digital visibility without paid Ads ? How to face to the positioning of TripAdvisor SEO with a limited budget ?
Solutions
To achieve these objectives, we have chosen to implement a “Non-price competition strategy” (Quality, Innovation, Design improvements). Thanks to dedicated tools and tailor-made solutions, we have been able to build a solid organic Internet positioning (locally, nationally and internationally), communicating on three supports (online store-front, blog and social networks), then implementing three levels of communication essential for the good development of any company (BtoC, BtoB, HR com). At the end of the strategic plan, we incremented useful and ergonomic tools for clients and candidates in order to keep contact with our community and discover new talents (online bookings, surveys and recruitment).
Main challenges
The main challenge has been to build a strong coherence between our messages, our contents and the reality of the place. To highlight its advantages but also its “weak points” and “atypical” points, by presenting them in an honest, uncomplexed – and even funny, if the subject is suitable. The main objective is to avoid any sense of disappointment. As the partner in charge of digital content, my work has consisted of conducting communication campaigns that are impactful, positive, but always fair.
Provided services
PR & Management Consultancy : work methods optimisation, business & sales developement, public relations and local social impact strategy. Digital strategy for restaurant : Goals, Digital market positioning, Architecture Information, E-reputation management. Search Engine Marketing : Google solutions (Adsense, Analytics). Copy-writing (in French & English) : Brand Content, Values & Commitments (4095 words), Crisis report & Press release (6575 words). Creative : Brand identity definition, Graphic design, Sound design, Photography, User Interface designing. Development : Homemade HTML & CSS (Showcase). Adaptation of WordPress solutions, PHP, HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, jQuery (Blog). Social : Brand integration on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
My intervention | Skills developed
Consultancy in Management, Public Relations & Communication
Improving the work methods management, public relations quality and local social impact strategy. Optimizing Search Engine Optimization and Web positioning (SEO). E-reputation management. On-line tools development for booking, recruitment and surveys. Performance monitoring via Google Analytics. Brand integration on social platforms. Launch of new products (menus, special offers). Content monetization via Google AdSense. Reputation management & Crisis communication procedure. Research & Development related to Customer Services, Customer Reviews, Catering & Tourism industry.
Brand Content & Community Management
Writing content for all medium : Showcase (21 pages) including Products, Services & Thematic pages, Commitments & Values (4095 words), Crisis report & Press release (6575 words). Blog & Brand content, including 5 categories, 22 posts and 7 pages. All posts on social content.
Art direction, Webdesign & User Interface
All pages and visuals in showcase; all pages and visuals on the blog; all visuals dedicated to Food pictures and social Content (Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest). In addition, an original mixtape was produced to introduce the brand’s DNA in the restaurant.
Front-End Web Development
Homemade HTML & CSS with optimized pages for mobile devices for all pages on the showcase. Responsive webdesign (HTML5, PHP, Fluid Grids & CSS3 media queries) adapted from WordPress solutions for all pages on the blog.
Digital ecosystem
Greatest achievements & Results
- August 2012 : Needs analysis
- September 2012 : Strategic response (Non-price competition)
- November 2012 : Organic SEO in French
- January 2013 : New Chef & New homemade menu
- February 2013 : Organic SEO in English
- April 2013 : Brand content definition in French
- June 2013 : Side by side with Tripadvisor
- September 2013 : Optimization for mobile devices
- October 2013 : Regional advertising for free
- December 2013 : Results of online booking (+7,6% in 2013)
- January 2014 : Results of sale revenues (+5% in 2013)
- Achievements & Results in 2013 : A delicate balance to consolidate
- February 2014 : Food photography on Pinterest
- March & April 2014 : Human resources communication on Facebook
- May & June 2014 : Offensive strategy for the “Lunch menu” & “Dish of day”
- June 2014 : A massive digital visibility (local, regional and national dissemination)
- July 2014 : Brand content for the new French label “Homemade”
- January 2020 : Blog – Stock content creation to relaunch the organic SEO
- January 2020 : Showcase – UI Design optimization to make the website more mobile friendly
- January 2020 : Showcase – Updating allergens information to cope with French policies
- April – May 2020 | COVID-19 crisis: Adaptation of the existing booking system for take away service
- 2021 : Instagram, SEO maintenance, security updates, UX optimization
- 2022-2023 : Post-COVID reorganisation and implementation of a succession plan.
> See all the Achievements & Results Timeline
All Work Reports
- See the Showcase Report
- See the Social Content Report
- See the Brand Content & Native ads Report (Blog)
- See the Brand content report (Food pictures)
- See the Brand identity report (Sound design)
- See the Achievements & Results Timeline
© 2012-2023 François Soulignac | Soic Services. Management Consulting & Digital Communication Strategy for Restaurant Le Saint-Hubert. Provided services : Management Consultancy, Communication & PR Strategy, Art Direction, Graphic Design, UI Design, Social Content Creation, Front-End Web Development & Photography.