This timeline of Achievements and Results is related to the digital strategy of Le Saint-Hubert, a French restaurant located in the Loire Valley (France). More information are available on the case study.
August 2012 : Needs analysis
The first online showcase was launched in june 2007 with 4 basic pages only. Thanks to this early web positioning, the showcase already had a good local visibility (with a big range of possible improvement). However, the corporate image and the e-reputation was not efficient enough. In addition, the sale revenues decreased since 3 years, in big part resulting to the crisis and the decline in purchasing power in France and in the UE.
September 2012 : Strategic response (Non-price competition)
The study of production on the spot, strong points and means (co-working with the executive associate) highlighted important improvable aspects of communication which could contribute to transform the corporate image and catch new clients. Global strategy : increase the non-price competitiveness (Quality, Innovation & Design improvement).
Concrete goals : build a stronger brand image, clarify the hierarchy of products & services, increase their digital visibility; promote in equal balance the cheaper pricing policy and quality products; improve the e-reputation (face to Tripadvisor search results); and set up tools to stay on track with new uses on the web (E.g : Registration forms for clients and job applicants, Responsive user interfaces, Online consumer surveys). All details about the strategic response on the case study.
November 2012 : Organic SEO in French
Core contents and organic SEO are clarified. After some weeks, the showcase is displayed on the first page in Google search results with the most relevant French keywords. E.g : “restaurant”, “menus”, “prix”, “pas cher”, “terrasse”, “réception de groupes”, “réservations”.
January 2013 : New Chef & New homemade menu
With the arriving of a new Chef, the food quality is improving again. A new menu is designed, with a new spirit : a cuisine 100% homemade by the Chef, with traditional cooking processes. This new recruitment was a great opportunity to strengthen the communication of two very important features in the traditional catering industry : the “Homemade” and “Handmade” cuisine.
February 2013 : Organic SEO in english
The showcase started to be displayed on Google search results with the most relevant english keywords. E.g : “French restaurant”, “French food”, “French cuisine”. In addition, the showcase is displayed on first place on Google search results with the most relevant and expensive keywords. E.g : “homemade cuisine Loire Valley”, “book a table restaurant Loire Valley”, “special groups offers restaurant Loire Valley”.
April 2013 : Brand content & Native Ads
The blog is launched. It’s a gap in the market : in the region, Le Saint-Hubert is the first restaurant with a dedicated blog, native ads and brand content definition. Thanks to a relevant content focused on French recipes, homemade and handmade cuisine processes), the brand “Le Saint-Hubert” reach new positions on Google search results, with new keywords. E.g : “astuces de Chef”, “recettes exclusives”, “plats faits maison”, “innovations en restauration”, “innovations service clients” “métiers de la bouche”, “sondages”, “recrutement”.
June 2013 : Side by side with Tripadvisor
Thanks to best practices in SEO, supported by a strong and relevant press release, the page dedicated to customer reviews is displayed on the first page of Google search results, side by side with the Tripadvisor page (keywords : avis, commentaires, reviews, restaurant). Good news for the corporate image of Le Saint-Hubert : it’s a great opportunity for customers to compare multiple sources of information. It’s also an efficient way to manage a new scourge for the tourism and catering business : fake reviews (in French).
September 2013 : Optimization for mobile devices
To stay on track with new habits of users, all registration forms on the showcase (Contact, Booking & Job Applications) are now optimized for mobile devices (in Responsive Web Design). The RWD solution, convenient for users, fully compatible with all devices, ease to build up and cheaper as a mobile app development, was the best solution for the brand.
October 2013 : Regional advertising for free
The regional newspaper named “La République du Centre” (circulation in 2012 : 11,720,337) retweeted a Brand content from Le Saint-Hubert. A great signal from a traditional media, a great achievement and a quality evidence of the brand content.
December 2013 : Results of online booking in 2013 (+7,6%)
The study of one year of online booking highlighted an upward trend : +7,6% in 2013. This increase of reservation is the result of many factors : brand’s products & services more visible on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), product’s hierarchy over clear, system of reservations more simple and effective.
January 2014 : Results of sale revenues in 2013 (+5%)
After one year of activities, the associate in charge of financial accounting published the financial results. Resulting to the hard work of the executive associate and staff on the spot (including new products, recruitment), supported by a new approach in communication, sale revenues of the company are increased of 5% in 2013.
Achievements and Results in 2013 : a delicate balance to consolidate
Balance sheet for Achievements and Results in 2013 : after 3 years of decline in turnover, this economic growth is a positive signal for the company, a new capacity to reinvest. However, this is a delicate balance to consolidate, and we must be focused on core challenges : stay efficient on the spot all days (the daily quality of services and products is typical of catering business), stay on track with local communities (maintain the link built on social medias), follow up closely the company’s e-reputation and continue to develop a better customer services.
February 2014 : Food photography on Pinterest
Launching of the Pinterest page dedicated to Food pictures. The core goal of this new brand content is to reach new audiences (food pictures lovers, Foodistas) and to increase the web traffic on the showcase. A selection of pictures is relayed on the showcase (Food photography). This new brand content design – fully relevant with the company activity – is a great opportunity to extend the brand identity through a new universe of graphic design. See the brand content report (Food pictures).
March & April 2014 : Human resources communication on Facebook
To improve the visibility of job offers from the restaurant Le Saint-Hubert, job applicants could now apply on the platform WORK4, a powerful social module included in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and fully supported by Facebook France. This initiative resulting from works of the French corporation named CGPME which communicate via the Facebook Page “Les PME recrutent” (“SME recruits”). See the Job offer n°1 (Cook), Job offer n°2 (Waiter) & Job offer n°3 (Cleaner).
May & June 2014 : Offensive strategy for the “Lunch menu” & “Dish of day”
To promote the special offer of the new lunch menu (Starter + Dish + Dessert = 15€) and the dish of day (freshly homemade by the Chef everyday), I set up an offensive daily campain to improve the digital visibility of these offers. Every morning, I phoned to the Chef to know the day specialty. Each dish of the day is announced on a dedicate post on the blog (via a powerful events calendar) with a featuring picture.
June 2014 : A massive digital visibility (local, regional and national dissemination)
Thanks to this daily mechanic, supported by a strong SEO strategy and a daily social networks communication, the key words “Plat du jour” (“Dish of the day”), “Formule midi” (“Lunch menu”) and “Plat fait maison” (“Homemade dishes”) are on the first place on Google Search Results (Local, Regional and National dissemination). This campaign is the best in results : the digital visibility and the organic SEO is massively increased, and several new clients and prospects have discovered the restaurant (sources : Chef, manager on the spot, and Google Analytics).
July 2014 : Brand content for the new French label “Homemade”
The 15th july 2014, the French government has launched the new label “Fait Maison” (“Homemade”), to help customers to know the difference between true and fake homemade dishes served in French restaurants. This is a big news for all the French catering industry. All Chefs, catering professionals and journalists talk about the consequences of this new label. In response to this media coverage, Le Saint-Hubert created an useful brand content dedicated to this topic : the official “Avis du Chef” (“Chef review”). This post included simple explanations (for customers and professionals), commentaries about lacks and advantages, concluded with a personal review from the Chef.
January 2020 : Stock content creation, UI Design & Legal information updates
First main update: in order to refresh the organic SEO of the digital ecosystem after few months without creating any new content, main part of the existing flow content on the corporate platform (blog) has been translated in stock content. Designing for stock content means creating assets whose fundamental characteristic is that their value is not restricted to a short period of time. Flow content is more likely to defined by a short spike of audience attention and a user context more identified with browsing, grazing, updating, sharing, and interacting (source: Neil Perkin). Discover the new stock content on the blog. Second main update: UI Design of the website has been optimized to make the interface more mobile friendly. Third main update: the allergens information have been updated to cope with French policies.
April – May 2020 : COVID-19 crisis response
In order to cope with the coronavirus outbreak consequences, we adapted the existing booking system for take away / drive-in / pick-up service. We are also developing ideas of diversification, in order to anticipate the new habits of customers in tourism, food and beverage industry.
2021 : Instagram, SEO maintenance, security updates, UX optimization
A digital strategy and its ecosystem need to be regularly maintained to ensure that they are sustained over time. Security must also be constantly reinforced in order to ensure its independence from malicious people and sites. Also, the user experience must be re-observed and adjusted according to the progress of research in the field and new user needs. In addition, an Instagram account has been created to raise the company’s profile on social networks.
2022-2023 : Post-COVID reorganisation and implementation of a succession plan
After the end of the opening restrictions linked to the COVID crisis, the ailing company had to be restructured by improving its operations and efficiency. Summary of the action plan : development of the work methods and sales management, improvement of the public relations quality and local social impact strategy. Development of the attractiveness of the company, new recruitment strategy, preparation of a business plan and implementation of a succession plan drawn up by the chartered accountant.
> See the Case Study
> See the Showcase Report
> See the Social Content Report
> See the Brand Content & Native Ads report (Blog)
> See the Brand content report (Food Pictures)
> See the Brand identity report (Sound Design)
© 2012-2023 François Soulignac | Soic Services. Management Consulting & Digital Communication Strategy for Restaurant Le Saint-Hubert. Provided services : Management Consultancy, Communication & PR Strategy, Art Direction, Graphic Design, UI Design, Social Content Creation, Front-End Web Development & Photography.