Case Study
McHugh's of Portmarnock is a family operated restaraunt which aims to serve great food and wine in a comfortable setting.
McHugh’s Wine & Dine was opened in 2016 with an eye for high-end ingredients, fine dining and a wine list to match! Diners came from far and wide and a loyal, core customer base was established.
Middle-aged, affluent customers during the week and a strong family trade on weekends. When the pandemic struck in March 2020 McHughs Wine & Dine diversified into takeaway and collection menus. This proved hugely successful with the local community and with the new menus a much younger demographic became regular customers. This is when The Lemonade Stand started working with McHugh’s Wine & Dine.
Senior management within the McHugh Group wanted to try and solidify the existing restaurant diners who frequented pre-pandemic as well as enticing the younger ‘takeaway’ customers to come back and sample the restaurant’s food within the four walls of the restaurant. To achieve this we worked on five key objectives
1/ REBRAND
McHugh’s branding was in need of an update to realign the visuals with the classic but modern restaurant interiors. The new identity is a much clearer reflection of McHugh’s new approach to classic dining.
2/ REBUILD
The existing McHugh’s Restaurant websites were dated and did not represent the more contemporary feel of the company. The Lemonade Stand launched a pair of brand new websites with a classic but modern look and updated imagery/videography.
3/ RESHOOT
McHugh’s wanted to showcase their fantastic range of dining and beverage options. Outside of the new, more casual menu in McHughs of Portmarnock we wanted to focus on their exceptional mixologist, Adi. The cocktails feature heavily in the promotional video.
4/ RELAUNCH
The Lemonade Stand was tasked with building a suite of social media ads across Facebook and Instagram to connect with customers and entice new visitors to experience the updated McHugh’s.
5/ RETHEME
Through extensive competitor analysis as well as casting a wide net online we were able to not only suggest new dishes for the lunchtime menu but to bring McHugh Management to visit different establishments around Dublin. This research was crucial in the final selection of dishes.
McHughs of Portmarnock has seen growth in its customer base since we have actioned these changes. Regular customers can still order tried and tested favourites and as the Facebook & Instagram Ads have been live we have seen a huge upturn in younger customers. Food & cocktail sales are up and the weekend lunch menu is improving week after week.
”“Stuart & I had worked together on another business within the McHugh Group - Perfect Day Café. We had never run targeted ads or produced professional video content before working with The Lemonade Stand. The results for the Café were almost immediately positive. I knew that when it came to reshaping our restaurant in Portmarnock there was only one person I needed to speak to. Stuart’s knowledge of food and the food scene in Dublin was a massive advantage to us. At all points along the way, Stuart worked with our team. With the new website and promotional video, The Lemonade Stand delivered first-class work”
Paul FoleyHospitality Manager, McHugh Group
