Grande Cuisine
Breaking away and going it alone for a client with customer value and growth at the forefront of mind.
The challenge
Our relationship with Grand Cuisine began when the company was at an early stage of development. The founder, at the time, having recently left an established partnership arrangement within the commercial cooking equipment industry, was looking to bring more value to his contacts through his own brand in his own way.
Keen to build on his existing status and momentum, it was important to hit the ground running whilst putting in place processes and maintaining the business.
We needed to establish and position the challenger brand ‘Grand Cuisine’ very quickly into its core market whilst also raising awareness to a broader audience of influencers and stakeholders. It was therefore important to adopt a rounded strategy with very ambitious growth goals at the core, designed to challenge competitors and attract the right leads into the business.
At the heart of Grande Cuisine is the man (the founder) himself, and his strong unwavering belief in quality of service and product. It wouldn’t have been difficult to persuade an existing audience to believe in the founder; so the challenge was in promoting the acceptance of a new brand. There was also a focus on promoting the expertise, the service and the overall value of the Grand Cuisine team as a whole whilst also attracting new audiences and business.
Our approach
The first step of our work was to create a three-year plan for Grand Cuisine, detailing the targets the business could reach, when those targets would be met and how we would get to the desired end result. An ambitious goal of £2 million turnover was set, which we believed Grand Cuisine would be capable of reaching with the right tactics in place.
With the trajectory in place, we focused on what would get Grand Cuisine to that ultimate goal of £2 million. One key part of this was the creation of a new website, serving as a ‘shop window’ for Grand Cuisine’s products and services. SEO was a focus during the development of the website, allowing for people to find Grand Cuisine organically and thereby boosting their visibility online to generate more leads.
Positioning was key – understanding what it was that would allow established and long-held customer contacts to see and feel what was different and more valuable about the Grande Cuisine brand would be the lynch pin.
The next step of the growth strategy was to implement and deliver a marketing and communications strategy. This was essential in building Grand Cuisine’s reputation and increasing awareness of the brand. This incorporated a website able to inspire yet provide the right level of information for all type of audience, from restaurateurs to engineers. We crafted a fully integrated plan comprising media relations, advertising campaigns, industry events, social media, web, and other marketing platforms, which could attract more prospects towards Grand Cuisine, resulting in more conversions and increased profit for the business.
Other elements of the growth strategy included designing and delivering marketing collateral, such as brochures and data sheets, to provide a bank of physical materials for Grand Cuisine to circulate around their customer base, helping to secure leads and maintaining a professional brand identity.
Our work with OlsenMetrix helped us to grow as a business, reaching the important targets we needed to reach the next level. We have continued to develop as a business, and place a large part of that success on the strategical and marketing support we received from the team.
Stephen Hobbs, Director – Grande Cuisine
Impact & Value
Grand Cuisine reached all of the targets set out for them, including reaching an annual turnover of £2 million within the three years, showing the impact of the growth strategy and the supporting marketing activity. The company has since become one of the leading brands within the professional kitchen appliance supplier market.
But don’t just ask us, ask Tom Kerridge…
