Description

Context


Quick Service Restaurants is one of the most standardized categories in advertising: brands almost always use red and yellow colors along with oversized product photos. In such a crowded space, it’s hard to stand out — remove the logo, and consumers struggle to recognize the brand, while marketing effectiveness declines.

Problem


To develop an effective marketing strategy, every communication must achieve multiple goals at once: increase brand awareness and drive sales. Standard product close-ups rarely deliver these results — a bold, unconventional approach is required.


Solution



We decided to become a part of our audience’s lives and speak to them honestly — even about difficult topics, to build an emotional connection.

Our strategy included:
- Using global news hooks to create relevant, timely campaigns.
- Showing up where competitors weren’t — such as on Tinder — driving organic engagement through “manual” conversations.
- Actively rotating creatives in DOOH to deliver bold, fast statements while the topic was still hot.

This approach allowed us to create a campaign that was cost-effective, highly visible, and engaging — combining insight, creativity, and a smart media mix strategy.

Results:
* 1.6M reach in just 3 days;
* OTS 54 450;
* Creative was recognized 17% more often than standard posts;
* ER at 12.7% (x9.5 higher than average);
* On Tinder, we got almost 100 matches, and 41% of them messaged us first;
* Guests +70%, sales +108%, full promo product sell-out;


Result: The campaign proved that a bold idea can cut through Valentine’s clichés and spark a genuine dialogue with the audience.

Media channel:
DOOH: LED screens, media boards, unconventional formats (large-scale placements);
Digital: targeted advertising on Meta and TikTok;
SMM: crowd marketing on Meta (situational commenting on influencer posts), organic promotion on Tinder and Meta;
PR: organic promotion in local media.

Release date:
February 14, 2025

Credits

I’M Restaurants:
Asset Mashanov – Chief Executive Officer
Evgenia Emelianova – Marketing Director
Yelena Kozubskaya – Brand Manager

Agency Team:
Gani Zharkynbayev – Strategic Partner
Karina Ptitsyna — Account manager
Alexander Tyulyaev – Creative Director
Nurym Akimgozhaev – Designer
Nikita Gorshkov – Strategy Manager
Vadim Tarkovsky – Digital Group Head

Partners:
Optimum Media Group – Outdoor Advertising Buying