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Making a hidden gem not so hidden anymore.
BunNan BK is a plantain-forward Caribbean restaurant, powered by the Haitian flavors of Chef Nadege Fleurimond. The restaurant is nestled in Flatbush Central, the Caribbean marketplace in the heart of Flatbush, Brooklyn.
BunNan was known by locals as a “hidden gem.” But Nadege needed all of New York to know about her innovative plantain eats to fulfill her ambitions of expanding her restaurant empire. How could we drive buzz and new foot traffic for BunNan while elevating Nadege’s visibility as a go-to expert on Haitian culture and cuisine?
WHAT WE DID
Injected the Fun
We advised Nadege to adopt a short-form video strategy on TikTok and Instagram to bolster both her personal brand and drive more conversation about BunNan on social media.
First, we took Nadege through our signature branding exercise, which brought clarity to her message and helped her focus her content on what made her unique–being bold, fun, and a proud Haitian American. We developed video concepts for Nadege that went viral, skyrocketing her engagement and tripling her social media following in just three months.
HOW WE DROVE GROWTH
Making it Viral
For BunNan, we understood that traditional ways to market restaurants on social media wouldn't break through the noise, and an out-of-the-box approach would be required to create buzz.
And create buzz, it did.
Riffing off a popular short-form video format, we outfitted Nadege with a small microphone and took her on the streets of Flatbush to interview Caribbean Americans and ask them a hotly contested question–which Caribbean island has the best food?
15M+ impressions
These videos became inescapable on TikTok and Instagram feeds across Brooklyn, receiving more than 15 million impressions in summer 2023.
They also sparked a ferocious debate in the videos' comments.
In each of the videos, Nadege describes the unique plantain dishes available at BunNan–among them, plantain sandwiches, plantain nachos, and plantain pizza. Every person responds excitedly saying they will try the restaurant. And so did people in the comments.
BunNan's rapidly growing number of social media fans, both in and out of Brooklyn, came to try its food. New fans became new customers, and new customers left glowing reviews on Yelp, TikTok, and Instagram, deeming that BunNan does, in fact, "live up to the hype."
The oversized, juicy sandwiches were picked up by passionate social media users, who shared their glowing reviews with their own Instagram and TikTok videos.
This user-generated content accumulated more than 2 million impressions.
BunNan's social media strategy translated to new foot traffic to the restaurant and elevated Nadege as a go-to expert for Caribbean culture and cuisine.
Nadege’s goal to expand BunNan’s footprint came true when the restaurant was selected as a vendor at the popular outdoor food market Smorgasburg in Prospect Park.