Member Article

New Thai restaurant swamped thanks to guerrilla campaign

Guerrilla PR campaign sparks social media frenzy and sees Thai restaurant swamped.

Thaikhun, a vibrant Thai street food restaurant, had to turn customers away on their opening day after a guerrilla PR and social media campaign went viral online. Lunch time on Thursday saw a queue of around 50 people beating the door down hoping for a seat, and in the days following the excitement refused to cease. Queues throughout the week led to curious passers-by, many of whom felt inclined to capture the moment and post their photos on social media.

Thaikhun Managing Director Iain Leigh said, “No restaurant ever wants to turn away customers but the response from the public was incredible – it demonstrates the power of PR and social media. A mere four hours after our press night began, news of Thaikhun had reached over 100K followers across Twitter alone, and the conversation continues to grow. Over 40 of the region’s top bloggers and Twiteratti have championed our restaurant and I can’t tell you how delighted I am.”

The reach has now exceeded a quarter of a million, helped by an influx of customers joining in on the social media action via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Attendees of the press night included Heart FM’s Justin Lockwood and the ITV Tyne Tees news team. Comedian and BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Sue Sweeney also made an appearance and tweeted, “@TK_Metrocentre Thank you all for a lovely evening. I hope to visit again soon. #Happy”.

The Thaikhun team chose to partner with Newcastle’s Karol Marketing to maximise their visibility in the run-up to the opening. Karol Marketing’s teaser campaign involved sending out unique media invitations featuring banana leaves, as well as placard-holding individuals popping up across the region from the Tyne Bridge to Trinity Square Gateshead, causing widespread intrigue and igniting social media conversations in advance of the opening.

Karol Marketing’s Managing Director, Stefan Lepkowski comments, “It was a wonderful campaign to be involved in. From start to finish we enjoyed working with the Thaikhun team who placed a lot of trust in us and were very receptive to our wild whacky ideas. We can’t thank them enough for appointing us.”

Thaikhun Restaurant Manager, Mandy Davison said, “Everything exceeded our expectations – we’re completely overwhelmed with the media and public reaction. The comments we have received are absolutely wonderful – we couldn’t have asked for better feedback.”

Ahead of the public opening, the restaurant was blessed by Buddhist monks in a deeply traditional ceremony that wished prosperity and good luck to the establishment and all who attended the event. Parts of the ceremony incorporated holy water, string and sacred chanting, as well as offerings of food and drink.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harry Robinson .