Easter 2019.Casual dining

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For Easter, All Bar One was pushing its brunch menus through its digital platforms, encouraging customers to get out and about on those bank holiday mornings (or early afternoons).

Showcasing its broad appeal, there were also offers for single diners and drinkers, with the tagline ‘Treat yo’ self’, as well as larger groups, which came under ‘Sharing is caring’.

Its drink deals were advertised online and through its outdoor POS, aiming to get friends through the door with 4 tapas orders earning a complimentary bottle of wine over the Easter weekend.

“With the Easter bank holiday providing the perfect opportunity to

catch up with those closest to you, All Bar One reminded us that a brunch with friends (and probably wine) is

never a bad idea!”

James CannellChief Creative Officer

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Easter’s all about tradition, and at ASK Italian that meant the return of the giant Easter egg raffle, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Online and in the restaurant itself, the competition was used to draw in customers as well as raising money for a good cause, costing just £2 to enter and encouraging people to sit down for a bank holiday meal.

It’s the time of year for a sweet tooth, and ASK’s Instagram recognised that by introducing a brand new dessert – the Baked Cookie and Salted Caramel Gelato.

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Beefeater was in a giving mood this Easter, with its in-restaurant POS encouraging diners to raise money for charity by entering the Easter Bunny goody bag raffle, the prize being a giant Easter egg.

There was another competition run on the chain’s social media, with £30 worth of vouchers on offer for the person who could guess the number of mini chocolate eggs in a jar, encouraging customer engagement to help get them through the door regardless of whether they won or not.

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Bill’s organised its very own Easter Egg hunt this year, with special golden eggs hidden in the neighbourhoods around its restaurants. As well as drumming up a huge amount of social media interest, the lucky winners were treated to a voucher for a meal worth up to £100.

Customers were encouraged to think beyond the food though, with plenty of digital activity around Bill’s range of cocktails as people headed out for bank holiday drinks with friends and loved ones.

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Easter weekend itself was where Bistrot Pierre focused its outdoor POS boards, concentrating on bank holiday offers which included two courses for £16.95 or three for £19.95 on both the Sunday and Monday.

Those same deals were all over the ad banners on the restaurant’s website, as well as social media. Also pushed forward was the option to treat yourself and others to six special courses, laid out in an aerial shot and cooked in Bistrot Pierre’s signature French style, all for just £23.95.

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Away from the chocolate and the eggs, Browns decided to concentrate its digital activity and outdoor POS on another Easter tradition – the roast dinner. Its lamb rump with all the trimmings didn’t just look amazing – the restaurant made it available two days running, on Easter Sunday and bank holiday Monday.

In the restaurant itself, a well-thought-out table display, including bunnies, flowers and candles, created a romantic feel to advertise the Browns gift experience, where you could treat a loved one to a special meal complete with Moët champagne.

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There was no chance of Carluccio’s toning it down for Easter and, as expected, the chain went big and bold with its in-store POS display, showing off everything from seasonal chocolates and sweets, to traditional Italian Easter cake with zesty candied orange peel, playing on a more authentic edge. Posters in the windows even gave you the opportunity to book the kids in for a biscuit decorating class over the hols for just £10.

It was more of the same online – Carluccio’s social media included photos of the floral decorations around selected storefronts, and made Easter gifting easy with chocolate egg baskets, filled to the brim with treats.

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RESTAURANT FRONT

Roasts are always on the menu at Chef & Brewer, but the chain was keeping them at the forefront of our minds this Easter through outdoor POS posters and social media promotions.

Through its digital activity and a bold website banner, Chef & Brewer was also pushing a reworked Easter set menu, geared towards getting more families and larger groups through the door.

Inside the restaurant, flowers drew you in to a £3 charity raffle, with an Easter hamper prize, and you could treat someone else to dinner by purchasing a gift card.

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Costa showed itself to be super-adaptable through its digital activity this Easter, and when the hot weather hit on bank holiday weekend, the coffee brand leapt on the opportunity to keep its customers refreshed, taking to social media to advertise its iced flat white.

Elsewhere online the chain pushed its array of seasonal offers, like the cornflake nests and white hot chocolate which also appeared on its in-store POS posters.

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“Typically delicious-looking imagery, a snappy tagline and just a slightly

playful edge – Costa’s Easter campaign was everything we expected in the best

possible way. But it was the brand’s response to the heatwave, tailoring

advertising towards its selection of iced coffees, that showcased its agility

and flexibility.”

Jess HylandBusiness Unit Director

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Getting back to nature, The Cosy Club went for an indoor display that included flowers and carrots (tempting for any Easter Bunny), as well as a grassy area for its little chicks.

On social media the chain was going big on chocolate, of course, with plenty of pictures of its desserts, and invited parents to take a break from cooking to enjoy a meal out with the kids, who could order from the mini Cosy Clubber menu.

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“A popular destination for evening drinks, Cosy Club sought to reframe

itself over Easter. That involved plenty of promotion for its desserts

on social media, where all efforts were concentrated on giving it a family-

friendly vibe to fill out its tables over the bank holiday”

Phil DouglasDigital Client Director

Family was the buzzword for Farmhouse Inns this Easter, with both the restaurant posters and the chain’s website focusing on a weekend of fun that included an Easter egg hunt.

Marking the event as a special occasion was the introduction of limited edition Cadbury® desserts, available over the Easter break, perfect after its usual carvery option.

On social media, the chain drove customer engagement with a slot machine-style game, in which you had to match three Humpty Dumptys for the chance to win a £40 gift card and Easter hamper.

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“The family focus, promoted on colourful, clear signage, played

seamlessly into the theme, while fun activities will have helped form a stronger bond with the brand.”

Vicki MurcottBusiness Unit Director

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An Easter roast? Yes please. Flaming Grill was saving its customers the trouble of cooking, advertising a traditional dinner on social media with the caption ‘All of the trimmings, none of the washing up’.

Outside the restaurant there was a board offering two roasts at just £9.99, and inside you were invited to ‘go posh’ by adding a bottle of fizz to your Friday or Sunday meals.

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We love a pasty or a sausage roll as much as the next person, but Easter’s a great time to indulge your sweet tooth, and that’s where Greggs focused its website and in-store displays. There were ‘Bunny Biscuits’ and a range of ‘Easter Ring Buns’, that played towards the younger generation by including a small toy as well as a sweet treat.

On social media customers were encouraged to take part in the puntastic ‘Easter Gregg Hunt’, keeping them engaged as they followed clues to win one of five £50 gift cards.

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There was no danger of going hungry at Harvester over the Easter weekend, as the chain laid on a special three-course set menu for £15.99, running from Thursday through to bank holiday Monday. The glittery design of its outdoor POS signs and the digital banner on its website meant it was almost impossible to miss the offer.

Hopping inside revealed a bunny takeover, with cut-out rabbit silhouettes stuck around the restaurant creating a fun, family-friendly environment.

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Getting families engaged was top of Hungry Horse’s Easter wish list, and the chain went big on competitions in its restaurants, with egg hunts and charity raffles to get its customers in the spirit. Kids were invited on a trip to the magical world of Alice in Wonderland at the Mad Hatter’s Breakfast Bash, which ran over two mornings on the bank holiday weekend.

Meanwhile, there was a contest online to win a £30 gift card if you could find the Easter Bunny amongst images of the chain’s special Eastermania dessert.

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“Fun Easter-based competitions online and in its restaurants will have increased customer engagement and appealed to families – after all, if the

kids are happy, we’re all happy.”

James CannellChief Creative Officer

OUTDOOR POS

McDonald’s took the Easter theme and ran with it on its social media pages, engaging with customers through an online egg (or Egg McMuffin) hunt, and highlighting its ‘eggcellent’ Saver Menu if you were after a quick lunch over the bank holiday.

The chain’s outdoor POS boards drew attention to its seasonal McFlurry range, which included Cadbury® Crème Eggs and Caramel Eggs for those who wanted an Easter sugar rush.

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Easter’s not a day, it’s a long weekend, and Premium Country Pubs recognised that with specially printed take-away cards in its restaurants highlighting what was in store over the bank holiday, from two-for-£10 cocktails on Thursday through to Monday’s two-course, fixed-price lunch deal.

Online the chain headed its Easter pages with distinctive italic lettering, while sharp images showed off its dinner options, complete with well-placed floral arrangements on the table, and social media followers were invited to head in for a dessert and a drink.

“Those takeaway cards showed a really deft touch in their design, elegantly

headlined and clearly laying out what the pubs had in store over the entire

weekend, standing out from the more generic offers.”

Sarah PerryCreative Director

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Anyone who didn’t fancy cooking themselves could swing by Sizzling Pubs for a delicious roast and a glass of wine over Easter.

The chain’s website was family-focused, highlighting Easter activities and its kids’ menu, while in the restaurants they kept things playful with bunny bunting and nest decorations.

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If you love a bit of sugar, then Slug & Lettuce had you covered over Easter, with its ‘The Sweetest Thing’ tag taking over in its bars and online, along with the introduction of a chocolatey take on its Pornstar Martini, which was also available on its two-for-one offer.

Easter egg hunts kept customers engaged, and leafy, floral Tanqueray drinks stands kept things light and fun, bringing the holiday back to nature.

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“If Easter weekend meant a few nights out, then Slug & Lettuce had you

covered – ‘The Sweetest Thing’ was the slogan of the campaign, and it used

a cheeky picture and bright pinks, yellows and greens that captured the

youth-centric focus of the bar. ”

Alan TurnerCreative Director

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Ramping up the Easter hype online was The Botanist, as it introduced us to a new dessert, kept social media followers informed on upcoming events, like its Easter egg hunt, and topped it off with a spring festival over the bank holiday weekend.

In the bar itself it was all about fun, with a colourful mirror display wishing customers a ‘Happy Easter’, framed by hearts, fairy lights and leafy décor.

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Why do you go to Toby Carvery? For the roast of course, and the chain knows it – hence why its Easter activity, both digital and at POS, was focused on its main attraction.

Once in the restaurant you could get your hands on the label’s gift cards to treat that special someone, whether that’s to a big dinner, a hearty breakfast or a cheeky dessert.

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“A strong sense of brand identity was at the heart of Toby Carvery’s

Easter campaign – no frills, just a big roast dinner.”

Natalie SomervilleStrategy & Creative Director

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Light and fun – that was how Vintage Inns approached Easter, with floral details featuring heavily on its website and outdoor POS.

You could take the entire family out for dinner, with the chain understandably keen to push its roasts, as well as the discounted children’s menu, and a bank holiday charity quiz night was a sure-fire way to get the customers in.

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Yates’s was party central over the Easter weekend, with the chain highlighting DJs and two-for-one cocktails on its social media feed (along with a cheeky bunny) to get the bank holiday weekend started properly.

Footy fanatics could rejoice with live screenings of some Easter fixtures, and across the bar there were fluffy rabbits, ears and bunting to keep everyone in the mood.

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“DJs, two-for-one cocktails and football on the screens – Yates stuck to what it knows over Easter. The chain’s

‘Hopping Mad Party Weekender’ summed up why customers tend to flock there – for a good time and a

relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere.”

Robin JungBusiness Unit Director

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Easter 2019.Thank you

Get in touch for more information or to discuss opportunities for your business

inspired@itg.co.uk

*Information and images within this report are gathered from ITG research, third party resources and materials available in the public domain.