And the winner is…

When Vinegar Creative went to the Golden Chopsticks Awards, we saw the power of branding first-hand. Great branding helps make you a winner.

Having worked on the first ever Golden Chopsticks Awards last year, Vinegar Creative was privileged again to lead the branding and design for the second Golden Chopsticks Awards, a awards ceremony celebrating the best Oriental food in the UK. We came up with the branding for the event and designed all the marketing materials, such as the programme, signage, menu, invite and goodie-boxes.

The ceremony, held at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel, was a massive success and everyone had an amazing time. We got to hang out with Gok Wan, whose production company, Beautiful Productions, staged the event. We also got to meet Ken Hom, Simon Rimmer and many other culinary personalities. However, it wasn’t all champagne and celebrities. The show, which was a year in the planning, gave us real insight into the power of branding. Here are 3 things we learned:

1 – A good brand lasts a lifetime

When you’re starting something new, it’s essential that you start thinking about brand-building as soon as you can. Professional, engaging branding brings value to your idea in ways you wouldn’t initially think possible.

For the Golden Chopsticks, the brand we built acted as a magnet. It was the power of the brand and what it represented that attracted big-name sponsors on board. Well-known companies such as Just Eat, Coca-Cola and Chinatown London were happy to associate themselves with the awards, because they saw the potential of the brand.

For the awards to be a success, Oriental restaurants from across the UK needed to buy into the brand from the start. If no restaurants had put themselves for the awards, it would have been a very short ceremony! Luckily, the Oriental catering community bought into the brand straight away. They saw something they wanted to be a part of, something they wanted to win.

Finally, the brand we helped build will follow the Golden Chopstick Awards throughout their lifetime. It’s a base to build on, year after year.

2 – Associating with other brands creates a multiplier effect

If your brand is good enough to attract other brands to your idea, it adds a huge amount of value. With the Golden Chopsticks, getting Just Eat and others onboard really helped to raise the profile of our new brand.

Having a household name as a sponsor adds kudos to your brand. It makes your brand look attractive to other big names. You also receive the benefit of extra exposure, as the sponsor will publicise your brand to their larger audience on their marketing and social media. This acts as a multiplier effect, growing your brand like a snowball. You can also use the money from sponsorship to put on an even more special event.

3 – Awards matter

One of the most interesting parts of being involved in the Golden Chopsticks Awards was seeing how much it mattered to the restaurants who were nominees and winners. You could see the pride on their faces.

For the restaurants who entered, it isn’t just a trophy. It’s a golden opportunity to spread the word about their businesses. Being up for an award is a big publicity generator. To have their food judged by legends like Ken Hom isn’t something that happens every day. They can talk about it in their marketing and social media. They can use it to attract more customers.

Involvement in the awards also benefits the local communities where the restaurants are located. Having a local restaurant up for an award is a source of civic pride. It gets coverage in local media. Plus, because there is a public vote element to the awards, it encourages people to travel to the restaurant to eat and vote.

Finally, whether you were nominated for an Award or not, the awards ceremony itself was a terrific occasion. It was a great opportunity for restaurant owners to network with other successful people in their industry. It was also a great show, full of entertainment. We raised more than £9,000 for associated charities on the night. 

The branding for the Golden Chopsticks awards had to make the restaurant owners feel that it was something worth entering. It had to be something they would feel proud of being associated with. Awards matter. Branding is a major reason why.

I’d just like to thank…

Working on an event of this size, with such an original company as Beautiful Productions, was a massive honour for all of us at Vinegar Creative. It was a challenge to produce all the design collateral for this event, but we met it head-on. And we’d love to do it again!

If you’re putting on an awards show, or any other event that requires strong, engaging branding, get in touch with Vinegar Creative.

If you’d like to find out more, give me a call on 07855 422710.