Created by UGA students in Talking Dog, our student-run advertising agency.

1. CASE STUDY
Talking Dog Advertising

3. Team
Background
Summary
Research
Challenge
Strategy
Impact
4
6
12
14
18
20
44

4. MEET THE STREAK
streak (n) • a group of tigers

5. Claire Pace
Account Executive
Harper Biewen
Assistant Account Executive
Julia Kleiber
Strategic Planner
Michelle Li
Copywriter
Brian Lee
Art Director
Stephanie Addo
Assistant Art Director
Team • 5

6. WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
the world of White Tiger

7. Located in the heart of Athens’ historic
Boulevard district, White Tiger Gourmet
is a restaurant well-known as a
neighborhood favorite. From BBQ to
burgers to vegetarian options, head chef
and owner Ken Manring creates classic
yet unique dishes made with fresh, local
ingredients. His wife, Melinda Edwards,
works as the PR and marketing director
for the restaurant, coordinating events
and advertising.
Asidefromthefriendly,talentedstaffand
the unique building, the biggest selling
point of White Tiger is their menu, which
includes delicious, rich bbq, burger, and
vegetarian dishes, while still maintaining
affordable prices. In addition to their
regular menu, they also offer exclusive
specials that change daily, such as their
Krispy Kreme burger and Spicy Siracha
Tilapia Tacos. White Tiger prides itself
in smoking its meat every day and
uses as many locally sourced seasonal
ingredients as possible. Their menu is
diverse and expansive, with something
to fit any consumers’ preferences.
One of the things that makes White Tiger
unique is the building itself. Built in 1905,
the space originally housed a grocery
store called “Davis House” and served
the residents of the mill neighborhood.
The historic building is both cozy and
informal, filled with artwork from local
artists. White Tiger has both indoor and
outdoor seating, with a large picnic
table-filled yard. At night, White Tiger
can be spotted anywhere on the street
from the glittering lights strung around
the trees.
Background • 7

9. WEAKNESSES
S.W.O.T. ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
• They have a diverse and delicious menu with a plethora of
options for both meat-lovers (barbecue and burgers) and
vegetarians
• The surrounding neighborhood has a large, loyal customer
base, made of mostly families and townies
• Has a open, outdoor lawn with large picnic tables and little
Christmas lights, perfect for eating outside during spring/
summer
• Partners with local artists to showcase their work
• Has a kitschy, homey vibe that feels both warm and
welcoming when customers dine in
• Well-reviewed on both Yelp and Facebook
THREATS
OPPORTUNITIES
Background • 9
• Located in Boulevard District, rather than downtown,
an obscure location for those that do not live in the
neighborhood.
• Has a weak Instagram presence with very few followers
• Website is clunky and outdated and the information is hard
to locate
• The branding is disorganized and incohesive across
platforms and in-store
• The owners are very willing to work with the student
population by offering discounts, freebies, and other
incentives
• They can cater to both their current neighborhood
population as well as students without altering location or
menu
• There is a lack of direct competition within the area,
especially due to their diverse menu and unique ambiance
• Interested in rebranding in-store and social presence to
increase brand awareness
• There are a few direct competitors in the BBQ category
such as Pulaski Heights BBQ, Saucehouse BBQ, Butt Hut
BBQ
• Indirect competition with other local restaurants including
Mama’s Boy, Heirloom, and The Grit
• Lack of brand awareness in college student population
• Downtown Athens and Five Points both offer a largervariety
of restaurants in the vicinity

10. KEY FACT
White Tiger Gourmet serves homestyle,
southern dishes made with simple, fresh
ingredients.
PROBLEM
White Tiger lacks cohesive branding
across social and digital platforms. They
also struggle with brand awareness
due to their obscure location and sparse
social media presence. This also makes
it difficult for them to attract the student
population.
OBJECTIVES
Increase social media presence on
Facebook and Instagram.
Increase rate of student customers by
organizing student nights and discounts.
Create cohesive branding through a new
logo, redesign of menu and website.
TARGET
The primary targets are University of
Georgia students. White Tiger Gourmet
provides food at an affordable price for
college students and an arrangement of
popular dishes.
The secondary target is locals that
already enjoy White Tiger Gourmet. We
want to broaden our clientele to include
college students without losing our
current local customers.
INSIGHT
“As a college student, it is nice to find
restaurants that are affordable that also
have great food. It is hard to find places
in Athens that have both, especially
when I have a limited budget.”
PROMISE
Your next-door neighbor meets gourmet
chef.
SUPPORT
White Tiger has a friendly, involved staff
and afunky, locallyinspired atmosphere.
Their wide range of barbecue and
vegetarian dishes satisfies all kinds of
customers. Outdoor seating provides
the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors in
the fun, home-style environment.
TONE AND MANNER
Fun, laid-back social media tone to set a
relaxed vibe that matches the location’s
atmosphere.
Consistent brand image and tone across
all platforms.
MEDIA VEHICLES
Print: fliers, newspapers
Social Media: Facebook, Instagram
Guerrilla: contests, student discounts
CREATIVE BRIEF
10 • Background

12. FROM HEAD TO TAIL
the executive summary

13. Our challenge was broken down into
two distinct categories - a lack of
a clear, cohesive brand and lack of
brand awareness in the Athens’ student
body. There was a disjoint between the
physical restaurant, a funky, local bbq
and burger joint, and its digital and
social presence. White Tiger had a small
social following with a need for relevant,
interactive content. Our research gave
us insight that students at the University
of Georgia had either not heard of
White Tiger or were not aware of its
location, but were interested in eating
local with a decent disposable income.
By addressing both elements of our
challenge, we would be able to create
a brand image that matched White
Tiger and spread the newly rebranded
restaurant all over Athens, Georgia.
Executive Summary • 13
CHALLENGE STRATEGY RESULTS
To tackle the two-prong challenge, we
broke our strategy into two parts as well,
addressing both brand cohesiveness
andbrandawareness.Wecreatedbrand
design guidelines and a brand voice that
matched the homey, neighborly feel
of the restaurant. We then used those
guidelines to redesign White Tiger’s
logo, website, and menu so their online
presence matched the aesthetic of the
restaurant. Oncethe brandwas cohesive
in all elements, we turned our attention
to brand awareness. We amped up their
social media presence by incorporating
contests, visually appealing content, and
user-generated content on Instagram.
We promoted events and posted
photo albums on Facebook, garnering
thousands of consumer interactions. We
designed and implemented branded
t-shirts, koozies, and stickers to spread
the logo to as many people as we could
reach.
Through social media, events, print and
digital ads, we were able to increase the
brand awareness of the student body, as
well as the general Athens population.
Our social media grew immensely, with
an 844% increase in Instagram followers
to a grand total of 1228 followers.
Facebook also saw an increase of 10%
page likes. Where we saw large growth
on Facebook was in post interaction –
including a Buzzfeed article we created
that reached 6,860 users with 143 shares
and comments. Overall sales increased
everymonththisyearas comparedtothe
same month of the previous year, with a
huge increase of 38% in sales December
2015 as compared to December 2014. To
keep up with consumer demand, White
Tiger decided to open up new hours,
expanding to include Monday lunch.
The restaurant is now open 7 days a
week for the first time in its history.

14. KEEPING AN EAR TO THE GROUND
the research findings

15. Research • 15
Before the start of our campaign, we sent out a survey to
UGA students to gather information about college student’s
restaurant eating habits. We wanted to better understand
this demographic and learn how much they were willing to
spend on meals, what type of food they liked, and how they
heard about new restaurants. We gathered responses from 58
students.
From our research, we found that 38% of respondents said they
ate out two times a week. Only 6% of respondents reported
that they ate out “a lot”, showing that students are more likely
to get food from the dining halls or eat at home. Most people
reported that they preferred to eat at places that had a local,
laid-back feel.

16. Although students did not seem to eat out an overwhelming
amount, they all reported having a good amount of disposable
income, with the majority of students willing to spend $10-$15
on a meal at a restaurant. 63.7% of students said they prefer
to eat local. Almost all students reported that they ate out for
dinner over other meals. This research helped us understand
the general eating habits of college students and allowed us to
tailor our events and strategies to this demographic.
16 • Research
WILLING TO SPEND
MORE THAN $15
WILLING TO SPEND
LESS THAN $10
WILLING TO SPEND
$10 - $15

18. EYES ON THE PRIZE
the challenges to overcome

19. White Tiger Gourmet was well-known around the Boulevard
District, but that was about it. While it was a common dining
spot for local townies, White Tiger was missing the opportunity
to extend their deliciously rich mac n’ cheese to the vast college
student population. We chalked this up to two hindrances: its
incongruous brand image across all platforms and its lack of
brand recognition on campus, especially due to its obscure
location (read: outside downtown Athens).
So, our first task was clear: rebrand the store by creating
a cohesive social and digital presence that was as visually
dynamic as the restaurant itself, while still maintaining the
warm neighborhood aesthetic.
Task two, spread the word! Our goal was to bring White Tiger
to the forefront of consumers’ minds. We wanted to get as many
people, namely students, looking at, talking about, and, most
importantly, eating at White Tiger Gourmet.
Challenge • 19

20. DISTINGUISHING OUR STRIPES
the big rebrand

21. When rebranding White Tiger, we were careful in keeping the
local, homey feel that emanated from the restaurant, while still
building a modern and clean brand.
We chose shades of reds, oranges, and browns that embodied
that warm vibe that we wanted to project consumers, matching
the coziness of the actual restaurant. We contrasted this kitschy
vibe with clean san serif fonts to create the perfect juxtaposition
of traditional and modern.
The otheraspect of ourbrand imagewas the brandvoice.White
Tiger already had a unique voice – friendly and neighborly –
and we didn’t want to lose that. We took their voice and played
with it to add elements of professionalism and wit. Not only did
we want to be your next-door-neighbor, we also wanted to be
quirky, smart, and sharp.
And thus, with new brand guidelines and a voice, our brand
image was born.
Strategy • 21

23. HEADINGS IN INDUSTRY PRO
Body copy in Sofia Pro.
COLOR PALETTE
TYPOGRAPHY
HEX 3D3D3D
HEX FEDD4A
HEX F84523
HEX AC2C19
CREAM OF TIGER SAUCE HEX F7E4CE
BBQ BURGUNDY
CHECKERED RED
MAC N CHEESE YELLOW
SMOKE GREY
Strategy • 23

24. 24 • Strategy
ORIGINAL ALTERNATIVES

25. LOGO
Afterthe brand imagewas established,we dove immediately
into creating a new logo.
While White Tiger’s existing logo had certain elements that
matched the look we wanted to accomplish, it did not fully
represent the new brand image we had built.
After designing and drafting several different options, the
clients chose a clean, centric logo with a lasting modern
aesthetic, while still maintaining its kitschy vibe. The logo
is both simplistic and easily adaptable, two very important
aspects to our client.
Strategy • 25

26. MENU
To match the new brand guidelines, new menus were
designed and printed. The old menus were cluttered with
information, so we pared it down to the basic items, keeping
the look of the menu very sleek.
26 • Strategy

27. Strategy • 27
BURGERS
1/2 lb beef burger with grilled portobella mushrooms,
mozzarella cheese, topped with organic field greens &
tiger sauce, served on a toasted kaiser roll
The Alice Burger • 7.50
1/2 lb beef burger with cheddar, bacon, field greens &
mayo, served on a toasted kaiser roll
Bacon Cheddar Burger • 7.50

28. 28 • Strategy

29. PHOTOGRAPHY
Food is the centerpiece of White Tiger, and it was important
for us to highlightthe essence ofthe restaurantto customers.
We captured photographs that matched our brand image –
modern and clean as well as organic. We shot everything in
bright, warm lighting to match the warmth of the restaurant.
Strategy • 29

30. WEBSITE
From the beginning, we understood that White Tiger needed a
strong digital presence – and their website needed to be at the
center of that.
Their previous website was clunky, outdated, and unfriendly to
mobile users. Using the new brand guidelines, we created a sleek,
easy-to-navigate website with refreshed, concise content.
It was vital that the new site be easily maintainable by the
restaurant owners. Because of its user-friendly interface, we
chose to create the site on Squarespace. Our new website was
functional and responsive to all different screen sizes.
30 • Strategy

31. Strategy • 31

32. HEAR US ROAR
spreading the good word

34. 34 • Strategy
whitetigerathens
White Tiger Gourmet
117 likes
whitetigerathens Want to win a super soft, limited
edition, glow-in-the-dark White Tiger tee? All you
have to do is follow us, like this picture, and tag 2
friends to enter!

35. INSTAGRAM
We wanted to focus a lot of our social advertising on Instagram
because of the visual nature of food. Prior to our campaign, White
Tiger had a small following with few likes on content that was
mostly irrelevant to the restaurant.
The first step was taking professional photos of White Tiger’s food
to capture that mouth-watering element that the restaurant had,
but its Instagram lacked. We paired this with friendly, humorous
captions that matched the brand image and tone, and began
racking up likes 5x more than their previous posts. We also
ran Instagram contests, where we received a lot of consumer
engagement, upwards of 60+ comments on our most successful
contest.
Additionally, we created the hashtag #tigerstreak, that customers
could tag when they posted pictures at White Tiger, creating a
hub for all White Tiger customer photos under one hashtag. In
exchange, we offered them “secret rewards” for their user-
generated content.
Strategy • 35

36. FACEBOOK
We considered Facebook as a platform to reach the older
demographic because the previous engagements on Facebook
were often interactions with townies (ages 25+). We geared our
Facebook posts towards this demographic, especially when
advertising more expensive events such as the Valentine’s Day
Prix Fix Dinner and the Tiger Turkeys for Thanksgiving. Because
of the larger audience we could reach with Facebook, we also
promoted things that required consumer engagement and
clickthrough such as the Flagpole Athens’ Favorites’ contest and
a Buzzfeed article we created entitled, “10 Signs You’re Obsessed
with White Tiger”.
36 • Strategy

37. Strategy • 37
3 Shares
Excited to announce that White Tiger was the runner-
up winner of Best BBQ Joint in Flagpole Magazine’s
Athens’ Favorites! A HUGE thank you to everyone
who voted for us. We love you all!
White Tiger Gourmet
March 2
231 Likes 8 Comments

38. 38 • Strategy
T-SHIRTS KOOZIES STAMPS

39. BRANDED SWAG
In a small town like Athens, GA, we saw the importance of a logo’s
presence in as many places as possible. Like other well-known
restaurants in Athens, we wanted to put our logo on everything to
spread brand awareness, not only on campus, but in the Athens
area. We mocked up a variety of items including stickers, tattoos,
stamps, etc. Two of our mockups came to life – the t-shirts and
koozies, available for purchase in store today.
Strategy • 39

40. DIGITAL ADVERTISEMENTS
We designed several advertisements for White Tiger’s social
accounts and website that promoted their events, menu items, or
announcements.These ads ran on Instagram,where theyreached
their primary target audience of students, as well as Facebook,
where they reached the secondary audience of local townies.
40 • Strategy

41. Strategy • 41
STUDENT SHINDIG AD MENU PROMO AD VALENTINE’S DINNER AD

42. 42 • Strategy

43. EVENTS
Toreachouttothestudentpopulationearlyon,weplannedStudent
Shindig in early November that featured the Tuten Brothers, a
local band, and special deals for the students who came. Despite
the poor weather, students still came out in masses, filling out the
entire restaurant, with a line out the door.
Our second student night event was in late March and had much
higher attendance. We booked Classic City Live, and they played
for a packed out lawn. The special of the night was a Krispy Kreme
donut burger – a mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger between
two grilled donuts. We even created a sponsored Snapchat filter
for customers to use when they took pictures at the restaurant.
Strategy • 43

44. MAKING OUR MARK
the impact and results

45. Impact • 45
Statistically examining progress on social media platforms,
we saw a rise in White Tiger’s Instagram followers, a 845%
increase in 6 months. Instagram interactions increased 5x, now
garnering an average of 50 likes per post. Instagram contest
posts received an average of 30 comments with consumers,
with our most successful contest getting 63 interactions.
SOCIAL
Facebook also saw in increase in page fans, from 1,773 to 1,950,
a 10% increase in 6 months. Additionally, Facebook also saw a
much larger organic growth in post interaction, with a single
post garnering 230 likes and a reach of 6,860, higher than any
content ever put out.
INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK
130 1,228
followers
Oct 2015
followers
Apr 2016
1,773 1,950
likes
Oct 2015
likes
Apr 2016
845%
10%

46. EVENTS
46 • Impact
Every year at Thanksgiving, Ken and Melinda smoke and
fry turkeys for people to pick up the day before the holiday.
We set up a food photoshoot and photographed an entire
Thanksgiving feast. We created an ad promoting these turkeys,
which was digitally posted on all social platforms, as well
as printed in Flagpole Magazine. Our advertisements were
highly successful, more than doubling the turkey sales from the
previous year. White Tiger sold out of turkeys, making a total of
67 turkeys before Thanksgiving.
This Valentine’s Day, White Tiger planned an intimate event
featuring a six-course menu. By pushing out ads on Facebook
and Instagram, we filled up all 24 spots the week prior to
Valentine’s Day. Even more impressively, on the night of the
event, the guests were so satisfied with each course that they
clapped every time Ken entered the room.
TIGER TURKEYS VALENTINE’S PRIX FIX DINNER
30 67turkeys
2014
turkeys
2015

47. EVENTS
Student Shindigs were another measurable success of ours.
Our first Student Shindig, in early November, was successful,
filling the restaurant to capacity and selling out of the student
special, despite being held on a rainy day.
Our second Student Shindig, in late March, garnered even
more success, filling the indoor and outdoor seating areas,
with lines out the door. Sales increased 68% as compared to a
typical March dinner revenue.
Additionally, the Snapchat filter we created for the night had
38 users, generating 3,000+ total views during the next 24
hours. The filter was $5, costing only $00.0015/impression.
STUDENT SHINDIGS
38
users
3,326
total views
.0015¢
cost per impression
SNAPCHAT RESULTS
Impact • 47
$5
cost of filter

48. WEBSITE
48 • Impact
4,397
site visits
10,933
page views
55%
mobile visits
WEBSITE INTERACTIONS
FROM FEB 2016 - MAR 2016
MOBILE
VISITS
DESKTOP
VISITS
White Tiger’s redesigned Squarespace site launched in early
February and already has 4,000+ site visits and 10,000+
individual page views.
The majority of site traffic was driven from Google. Over 60%
of users found their way to White Tiger’s website from search
engine results. The new website’s advanced search engine
optimization allows more people to find the restaurant online.
Most importantly, over half of the site visitors came to the site
via mobile.The oldWhiteTigerGourmetwebsitewas not mobile
friendly, making website view on mobile a very hard task. Our
new website is highly adaptable on all devices, especially for
mobile, but also tablets. This adaptability helped to include
mobile users into viewership.
3,569
unique visitors
63%
Google referrals
45%
desktop visits

49. SALES & OVERALL IMPACT
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
+ 18%
+ 4%
+ 38%
+ 3%
+ 15%
SALES INCREASE AS
COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR
Impact • 49
Late March, towards the tail end of our campaign, we sent out
a second survey to gauge brand awareness and public opinion
of White Tiger. Our survey received 25 responses, with 88% of
our respondents now having heard of White Tiger, and 60%
reporting that they had eaten at the restaurant. When asked
to describe White Tiger, the responses were overwhelmingly
positive, including, “yummy, mouth-watering food”, “quaint,
cute, eclectic, authentic, local, homey, yummy”, and the ever-
so-classic “dank as hell.”
Finally, we looked at overall sales, which increased every single
month this year when compared to the corresponding month of
the previous year. November and January increased between
3-4%. October and February saw significant increases between
15-18%, but our greatest sales spike came in December 2015
with a 38% increase in comparison to December 2014. Due to
increasing demand from customers, White Tiger also opened
up new hours, expanding to lunch on Monday. In a historic
milestone, White Tiger is now open 7 days a week for the first
time since its conception.