Asian House

The Asian House team had it clear from the start. The goal was to hit the Spanish and European market as the first standardized Asian food option. They had the name, they had the idea perfectly worked out, and they had the team. Jiaping Ma, the MasterChef Celebrity contestant and Zapeando collaborator, along with Michael Lin would bring oriental knowledge and vision to the project. Álvaro Bordas would bring the Western perspective. They knew they were missing just one essential element to bring Asian House to life and drive the business forward. Work the brand—from strategy to digital product through identity. And that's where we came in.

As a starting point, one of the project's keys, its major opportunity: the operational process. One of Asian House's differentiators compared to other offerings is the professionalization of processes that will lead not only to improved cost optimization, but also to a more controlled and homogeneous experience across different locations. What has already been a major success in other food categories (burger joints, pizzerias, pasta shops…) doesn't exist for offering an Asian food menu. This opportunity aligns with Asian House's business objective—which is really more than a business objective, it's a vital and emotional purpose: reposition Asian food.

An atomized and family-run expansion

To work on brand strategy, we started with a deep market immersion. We all know the current model of Asian food in the West, its atomized expansion over the last 60 years, and how it's arrived at today—without benchmarks or standards. The first Asian food to reach Spain was Chinese in the 1960s. Although the concept spread across cities throughout the country—and Europe—it did so atomized: family-run restaurants, with their own recipes and their own processes that usually based their offering on price rather than quality.

Over the last 15 years, dishes from many other parts of Asia (sushi, bao, gyozas…) have entered the Western scene, and they've had a very different relationship with the West: they've fused with local offerings and can appear on menus at restaurants across different price ranges.

The market is moving

And, digging deeper into the sector context, we found some very relevant data for the project. According to 2022 data, in Spain one third of consumption happened outside the restaurant. Not long ago, we could say restaurants were the option for "eating out." That statement no longer works to understand the reality of food consumption. According to 2022 data, 69.1% consume in the establishment. The other 30% of restaurant sales are consumed at home (11.6%) or at someone else's home (5.2%), at work (6.2%), and even in the street (4.9%). Delivery and takeaway therefore account for a third of consumption in general figures. And we know Asian food is extremely popular when we order it for delivery, despite the current atomization.

However, in 2023 the trend shifted: we went back to restaurants. In the first quarter there was a 26% increase in consumption in-store. Delivery orders also grew, but less ambitiously: 13%. When the lens focuses on fast food restaurants, in-store consumption growth reached 39%, takeaway was 13%, and delivery was 7%.

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Diversity in target audience and use cases

We continue analyzing the target. In this project the audience is tremendously diverse, both in use case typologies (eating at a restaurant or taking it home), in how it's shared (alone, as a couple, with friends or as a family), in age and even economic situation. We want Asian House to be a place that anyone in a major city wants to visit to try their Asian food.

We complete our analysis by focusing on how the fast good sector speaks to the public. Its key messages center on food quality through flavor, being superior or centered on its "real" character; on its impact beyond the moment, a positive impact on life; and on a new way of understanding restaurants at the level of brands, communication and marketing.

A comfortable experience

With all the project, market and target information analyzed and put into perspective, the moment came to encapsulate it in strategic tools that would help us drive the experience and business of Asian House. On this brand platform, as in the project, comfort plays a major role—worked from ease, convenience and enjoyment of the experience, from it being a comfortable decision, to the actual digestion itself. And, furthermore, differentiated by the creators' optimistic capacity, bringing their way of relating to the world, people and business to their brand too.

Easy to reimagine

Another key concept we created for Asian House is "easyway". Very much in line with that comfort: an easy experience at the restaurant, at home and for pickup. We also count on our pillars, taste, ease and that always optimistic way of approaching the world. And everything always with the big goal, the purpose, very present in everything we are and do: reimagine the flavors of Asia. Here we walked you through how we reimagined it for their brand universe.

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Starting a conversation

And how do we communicate it? With a personality capable of conveying knowledge of Asian gastronomic culture and genuinely enjoyable. And with a key message: have you eaten yet? 你吃了吗 pronounced ni chi le ma, is a traditional way of greeting others, even if there's no real interest in a literal answer to the question. A concept that works because it serves as an opening to a conversation —in our case, to enter into conversation with people—, it has an informal touch, it has storytelling closely tied to culture and reflects the importance of food in how people relate to each other in Asia.

And you, have you eaten yet?

In March 2024 Asian House successfully launched its delivery service through its digital home and of the main platforms (don't miss their executive menu, ohmama!). On September 4th they opened their first location in Madrid: Bravo Murillo 238. We can't spoil it, best you head over and try it yourself, but stay tuned… Very soon we'll tell you all about it in a new case study on brand Activation.