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If you want to stand out in today’s competitive restaurant world, a memorable brand can be as important as the food itself. Few restaurant owners know branding like Keegan Fong, founder of Woon Kitchen in Los Angeles. Woon has developed the kind of customer loyalty that business owners dream of.
One secret to Keegan’s success? Not many restaurant owners come from the skate and surf world. Keegan learned how to build strong brands — and cool ones, too, during his decade of marketing skate and surf apparel. Woon began as a pop-up, where Keegan honed his vision, eventually evolving to brick-and-mortar, where the concept was dubbed “the coolest Chinese restaurant in LA.” Woon has developed such a devoted following that it recently opened a second location.
So, how can other business owners build a strong restaurant brand like Keegan’s? Read on for his top tips on brand identity, storytelling, authenticity, and more.
Meet the Visionary
Keegan Fong, founder/owner of Woon Kitchen
Past experience: Marketing positions with Vissla and other apparel companies
Recognition: Bon Appétit, LA Times, Secret Menu, Friends of Friends, Fwrd
Define your core values
It’s important to develop core values before you go into business. It’s easy to get carried away in following trends, and you can lose sight of your purpose. So you want to have those core values to return to when you need to make decisions. That process helps you stay true to your vision.
Tell a compelling, authentic story
Working in marketing, I learned how to build a compelling story around a product and communicate that story to people. That storytelling is at the heart of branding. It’s how you bring your product to life. But to connect with people, your story must be true and authentic. At Woon, we use my mom’s original recipes for good homestyle Chinese food, so my family’s story runs through everything we do.
Embrace the marketing process
Good marketing requires both creativity and a solid execution strategy. I still use go-to-market strategies from my marketing career. Say we’re planning to run a special next week. We want to tell the story of that dish — its traditional origins, or how my mom learned it, or what twists we’ve put on it. So I’ll set up a schedule for rolling out that story through different platforms, including email newsletters and various social media.
Establish a clear identity
Good branding is about having a clear, authentic identity. Sometimes you’ll need to challenge preconceptions. For example, Woon’s homestyle Chinese food isn’t exactly like what you get at either your standard takeout place or a fancier traditional restaurant. Some people will ask, “Is this Chinese food?” or “Why can’t I get shrimp fried rice?” But when you hold true to your identity, you can broaden people’s minds.
Don’t follow the herd
It’s hard to be authentic when you’re imitating other restaurants or jumping on every social media trend. Look outside the food and beverage industry for marketing inspiration. Sometimes I check out my old field of surf and skate, but honestly, that industry is known for copycat branding. Really, you can draw inspiration from anything that resonates with you personally. Just find marketing principles and techniques that grab your attention and figure out how to adapt them to your restaurant.
Prioritize consistency
Consistency in branding is crucial. All your content and messaging should tell your story and reinforce your brand identity. All you do is confuse your followers when you mix TikTok trends, memes, and other random content. You need to execute consistently, too. Don’t try some marketing technique once and then forget about it.
Establish real connections
Build connections in your local community. Woon hosts a lot of pop-ups, parties, and other events that bring people together and show them a good time. These events usually aren’t financially beneficial for us, but they strengthen our connections with people and create customer loyalty.
Diversify your revenue streams
In today’s restaurant industry, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. Woon expanded beyond dining early on with our merch. Because of my background in apparel marketing, I know a lot of great artists. We have also moved into the wholesale market with sauces and single-serving packets. And we’ve added a second location. If you can diversify, do it. The margins in this business are so tight that you need to set yourself up to survive long-term.
