NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant week allows diners to indulge in some of Newcastle’s best restaurants for less.
Each participating restaurant offers a bespoke Restaurant Week menu comprising multiple courses or a meal with drinks for just £10, £15 or £20 per person. It’s the perfect way for diners to try a new restaurant in Newcastle or enjoy an old favourite for an even better price, whilst boosting much-needed trade for the hospitality industry during traditionally lean periods and especially now during the cost-of-living crisis.
We’ve worked with NE1 for many years, tasked each year with achieving maximum reach and engagement to make each Restaurant Week a bigger success than the last.
There are two Restaurant Weeks every year, one in January and the other in August.
To date we have created a fully integrated campaign to commence four weeks before each event, leading with high-end food photography and an aspirational look and feel to demonstrate that the event allows people to enjoy even luxury-brand experiences for more affordable prices, without compromising on quality. For recent events, immersive-style headlines invited customers to ‘dip, dunk, drizzle, devour’ and ‘dine divine’, while the photography showed the vast range of cuisines and dining experiences on offer.
Paid advertising activity runs from New Year through January and then again in July and August, taking a multi-channel, digital-first, approach to target couples, groups and families interested in quality dining experiences. The channel mix is planned to inspire, engage and convert: a radio competition driving awareness and engagement; Metro train carriage cards targeting commuters; Facebook paid static, video and carousel ads and stories to whet appetites for dining out; Snapchat to engage younger audience groups, and digital display, together reaching a broad swathe of our target 21–60-year-olds.
Mobile-optimised, multi-image formats in digital and social media highlighted the variety of dishes available, catering for all tastes, with targeting planned to serve relevant creative to the right audiences at the most conducive times.
Results
Business outcomes of the August 2022 Restaurant Week had already set the bar high, with an 8% increase in participating vs. that year’s January event and diners spending 30% more than previous records. The campaign drove nearly £825k incremental revenue for Newcastle’s hospitality trade as well as enabling 52,000 people to enjoy dining for less at some of the city’s finest places to eat. A total of 113 restaurants took part in the August event, making it one of the largest Restaurant Weeks on record.
…and then some
We love a challenge, and the August 2022 results presented an impressive target to beat, so we’re delighted to report that the January 2023 event smashed all records to date, resulting in:
- Over £1m revenue for local businesses
- An 18% increase in total revenue compared to previous records
- 119 restaurants and 58,000 diners taking part – a 12% increase in diners
- A 12% rise in the average spend per diner, in spite of the cost-of-living crisis
- A staggering ROI of £52.67 per £1 invested
“We’re delighted that January has smashed all previous records and that we’ve surpassed the £1m mark,” said our client Ben Whitfield, Director of Communications at NE1. “This is a huge milestone for the event and a reflection of its popularity across the region.”
Matthew Settle is Director of Missy Milieu, one of the new restaurants that took part in the latest Restaurant Week for the first time. For his team, Restaurant Week was an ideal springboard into the hearts and minds of the city’s diners. “We were fully booked during NE1 Restaurant Week, which helped us establish ourselves quickly on the scene during what are extremely difficult trading times,” he said.