In a highly competitive casual dining market, Wagamama recognised the need to stay fresh and relevant amongst its key 18-35 year old target audience.
In the past Wagamama had not specifically spoken about who they are or what they stood for from a brand perspective –however in 2018 for the first time they felt it was the right time to promote this point of difference and help continue to drive growth in a very cluttered and heavily price-promotion led market.
‘Bowl To Soul’ was the centrepiece of wagamama’s biggest above the line advertising campaign to date, aiming to build brand loyalty amongst its target audience, giving them a strong reason to eat Wagamama over competitors.
The vibrant brand film includes a mix of anime, illustrating the restaurants Japanese heritage, and live-action footage, featuring real people enjoying Wagamama’s food and feel-good experience.
Plan
Cinema took on a leading role in the campaign - wagamama launched the ‘Bowl To Soul’ creative in DCM cinemas, ensuring its first AV advert was watched in the most engaging, immersive environment where the brand could captivate and entice the audience.
In an effort to drive footfall alongside brand impact, wagamama used DCM’s Cinemapper tool to locate cinemas in close proximity to its restaurants –allowing wagamama to buy selected sites that were within 10-15 minute drive of its restaurants to deliver close proximity and minimise wastage.
The ‘Bowl To Soul’ brand film ran in a total of 97 DCM cinemas across eight key cities identified by Wagamama for this first campaign (inclusive of London). Across the summer the ad ran alongside screenings of blockbusters including Mamma Mia!: Here We Ago Again, Ant-Man & The Wasp and Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
