MAMO Restaurant

A purveyor of affectionate Italian cuisine & unique New York City dining experience

www.mamorestaurant.com

Challenge

A well-known restaurant MAMO Michelangelo located in the South of France full of celebrity clout was planning to open in New York City. Our big challenge was establishing a unique place without relying on the celebrity connection, but identify a unique value proposition New Yorkers will embrace. Opening a new restaurant in the city is a huge challenge and faces huge competition. New York City diners are known to be ruthless when it comes to new places, so there was no pressure at all :)

Solution

First, we stripped off Michelangelo from the name and kept only MAMO. We developed a simple and clear brand identity that sticks with New Yorkers and made a conscious decision to keep the celebrity factor out of our new identity. Celebrities will visit, but they were an unsustainable value proposition. We identified the most unique strengths of restaurant offerings and focused on one particular product- the truffle pizza. We made this central to our story. We designed a simple website, a clear content strategy, and an attractive social media feed.

Impact

The idea to advertise the truffle pizza (the most expensive product on the menu) and make it the key differentiating piece was a huge success. The truffle pizza has been the #1 product sold since day 1.
This approach helped us generate free press, and influencer coverage focusing on the truffle pizza. User-generated content gave MAMO credibility and consistently brings new clients. MAMO Restaurant has become one of the top-visited restaurants in SoHo, and truffle pizza is still to die for. If you’re in SoHo go try it. You’ll understand.