Caroline Apel
Lion's Choice
The Client:
Lion’s Choice is a beloved fast-casual chain that’s Famous For a Reason. Their ridiculously good fries and mouth-watering, slow-roasted roast beef put Arby’s to shame (a.k.a where many believe it belongs). They’ve developed a cult-like following in the St. Louis metro area over their franchise’s 55-year history.
The Year of the Choice
The Task:
When a restaurant has been around for decades and has reached icon status, customers think they know everything there is to know about the brand. Most members of LC Fam have had the same go-to order engraved into their mind. BUT they’ve forgotten about the “Choices”. C’mon, it’s in the name!
With 7 meats, 8 sauces, and plenty of toppings, sides, and sweet treats to go along with them, a fully customized order is so close you can taste it. They’d recently expanded their menu options – most notably adding healthier options that other fast food chains would only dream of.
Their fanbase just doesn’t know what they’re missing out on.
The Campaign:
We put the “Choice” in Lion’s Choice. I wrote the script for the anthem video that scratched the surface of all the ways you can make your order uniquely yours. The bright imagery and snappy language set the stage for all the menu options to have their time in the spotlight. (And I’m sure my hand modeling helped out too).
The campaign lived through OTT and digital before it extended into social. Their social media pages were the perfect place to start a conversation with LC Fam and keep the expansive menu conversation going.
These efforts were extended into outdoor and digital with language that reminded consumers why Lion’s Choice had become famous in the first place. It also gave new consumers a chance to get to know what made Lion’s Choice a staple in the Lou.
Social Media Posts
The Task:
Lion’s Choice (and most roast beef restaurants, if we’re being honest) tend to have an older customer base. These fans are as loyal as they come, but that leaves a whole market of younger consumers who haven’t had their taste buds wowed yet.
The Execution:
I put my doom scrolling to good use by bringing a more youthful tone to their social media posts. As I planned out the content and wrote the copy, I made sure to bring in meme culture, engagement opportunities, and plenty of reminders of what Lion’s Choice has to offer.
TikTok
The Task:
Part of the untapped youth market lived on TikTok, BUT they didn’t have any presence on that platform. They hadn’t even saved a username. The client hadn’t even thought of expanding their social media presence.
The Execution:
I took the initiative to pitch a content plan and begin the process of creating the account. I helped jump through the hoops to secure their username from some random guy, and thus our TikTok journey began.
We launched the page with a video inviting fans to follow our page. Once we established our base, we invested more time into video content creation. I always make sure to stay up to date with the latest TikTok trends (that’s why I’m on that app so much, right?). I curated popular audios, collected inspiration, and directed the production of content that could either live exclusively on TikTok or live across all their social media accounts.
BONUS: My Hand Modeling Portfolio
