The success of the Eataly restaurant thanks to digital communication

After successful openings in Turin, Rome, New York, Los Angeles, Munich... the Italian concept store plans to arrive in Paris in February 2019. How does Eataly work with the best food influencers to inspire people online to come and enjoy the in-store customer experience?

Founded in 2004 by businessman Oscar Farinetti, Eataly generated sales of over 500 million euros in 2017, spread across its 38 stores. At the heart of the chain's success? The customer experience offered in-store: grocery, restaurant, wine bar, cooking classes... the Italian experience is complete, and it sells well on social media.

Key learnings:

• Eataly has a very local communication strategy on social media, each country has its own Instagram account to relay local news.
• In its communication strategy: Eataly distinguishes the grocery section from the restaurants, and on Facebook each store has its own page, as does each restaurant.
• Eataly works with influencers of varying notoriety (from 10,000 to several hundred thousand subscribers) to achieve its objectives in terms of awareness, engagement and sales.
• The group emphasizes the in-store customer experience as the key to its success. You can take cooking or wine courses, or take part in tastings of fresh Italian produce. Influencers are invited to live or design these experiences, which they then share with authenticity on social media to maximize engagement.

Focus on the three most dynamic Eataly online:

• Eataly Rome
• Eataly New-York (Flatiron)
• Eataly Sao Paulo

EATALY ROME

Key learnings:

• The Eataly website has a "Magazine" section on which influencers publish content - mainly recipes.
• Eataly works with food influencers on several networks, with tailored content, to reach different targets.
• Influencer partners are known for their blog posts, Instagram publications, YouTube videos or even Pinterest boards.
• In Italy, the group has chosen to work with mainstream influencers (TV presenters, 1 million Facebook subscribers, etc.).
• Influencers are called on to create recipes, stage experiences and do product placement.

Examples of influencer partners:

Joe Bastianich, Italian-American restaurateur, winemaker, author, television personality :

Giallo Zafferano, one of Italy's most famous food blogs:

He has already collaborated with brands such as Marcato (pasta machines), Poloplast (plastic pipes) and Cirio (agricultural and agri-food sectors). Giallo Zafferano also contributes recipes to the blog section of the Eataly website.

Casa Surace, Italian youtubers who share videos about North/South differences in Italy :

The team is invited to events to reinforce the convivial aspect of Eataly. In December 2017, Casa Surace posted a photo of them at Fico Eataly World on their Instagram account:

Examples of influencer content:

EATALY NEW YORK

Key learnings:

• Eataly organizes experiences (cooking classes, tastings) with chefs who are influencers to raise its profile.
• The Instagram account is also used extensively to communicate promotional offers. Eatalay also communicates about its brands, creates recipes, stages experiences and does product placement.

Examples of influencer partners:

Lidia Bastianich is a mother, American chef, television personality, author and restaurateur:

It regularly collaborates with Eataly to generate Drive to store on special occasions (e.g. Valentine's Day, Christmas...).

Michael White is a chef and owner of the Altamarea Group:

Eataly invites chefs to enliven its Manzo restaurant. Each month, a local chef creates a special dish using ingredients sourced from local farms, with a portion of the profits going to a local charity of the chef's choice.

Examples of influencer publications:

EATALY SAO PAULO

Key learnings:

• As in New York, most collaborations on Instagram are with chefs, but Brazil favors micro-influencers.
• The brand organizes cooking classes with them in the establishment and using its products.
• Eataly Brazil communicates on its brands (e.g. Lavazza, Venchi).

Examples of influencer partners:

• Reinaldo Lee, chef de cuisine. His Instagram profile has 29,800 followers.
• Fernanda Dornelas, a chef based in Sao Paulo, lived in Rome for 10 years. Her Instagram profile boasts 11,600 followers.
• Arthur Sauer, chef de cuisine. His Instagram profile has 11,700 followers.

Examples of influencer publications:

‍