I’M - Exes, Clowns and Reach

Context



On February 14, customers drown in a sea of identical promos: product shots, generic discounts, and romantic clichés. In this noise, audience’s interest fades and brands lose their uniqueness. Promoting through digital and traditional channels is costly, so it’s crucial to create campaigns that are both effective and cost-efficient.

Problem



Quick Service Restaurants is one of the most standardized categories: most brands rely on almost identical colors and product photos. Brand identity gets lost, and promotional efficiency drops. On top of that, the high cost of creative and media placement further limits resources, which are usually already focused solely on product promotion.



Solution



We reimagined Valentine’s Day by ditching idealized imagery. We used DOOH, digital, and non-standard channels with high-quality audience contact (like Tinder).


Key project principles:

* Rapidly created situational creative based on a timely topic.

* Replaced product-centric ads with situational messaging in pre-purchased inventory.

* Activated Tinder with “manual” chats, no paid promotion involved.




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 even on a tight budget, 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