Marketing Strategy and Branding
Semester long team project developing the strategy for a food truck brand
Ka’a Kalaka is a poke bowl food truck located in St. Petersburg Florida. The brand has sustainability at the core of it’s business model through a deep regard of ocean resources and environmental impact.
Opportunity: The Tampa Bay area has a large eco-conscious and healthy community
Solution: A healthy and sustainable dining option
My Role: Creative direction, branding, market research, marketing strategy
Our food truck would serve Hawaiian street food items with poke bowls being our primary focus. The poke bowls would be fully customizable providing autonomy to the customers. In addition to build your own bowls, we will have a signature bowls menu. We would also have dole whip on our menu as a dessert option. The truck will be located on St. Pete Beach.
St. Pete Beach is part of the Tampa Bay area, with a large eco-conscious and healthy community. St. Petersburg is committed to delivering sustainable and progressive policies to address environmental challenges. We would like to provide an eating location where customers know that their environmental concerns are being addressed.
The rise of poke bowls is concerning to chefs and environmentalists. Both worry that the demand for poke bowls can't be met responsibly. Although our competitors claim that they are working with sustainable suppliers, chefs see the rise in demand for poke bowls as a problem for fish stocks. Our brand was developed as an approach to combat these issues.
To bring the Ka’a Kalaka brand to life our visual identity is inspired by the tropical islands of Hawaii. The color palette consists of teal, pink, cream, light yellow, and coral. Additionally, the use of a palm leaf in our logo represents our environmental elements. Our visual identity was designed to create a better experience for customers and provide insight into our pillars of design. These pillars are culture, service, experience, sustainability, and identity.
Ka'a Kalaka targets adults ages 18-35 years old. Our launch campaign focuses on individuals with a strong desire to protect and preserve Florida's beaches, as well as diminish waste throughout St. Petersburg. Within our market segmentation, the demographic is 18-35 years olds in the Tampa Bay area. Due to the economy in St. Pete, our demographic is would also be willing to pay more for fresh ingredients.
Ka’a Kalaka would utilize Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest during the first phase of the launch campaign. These owned platforms would be used to show consumers where our truck is located, highlight our diverse menu options, as well as share relevant news and updates to keep our audience is engaged. Ka’a Kalaka would post content that emphasizes are core values and solidifies our brand identity. Our intent is to encourage followers to use our #Beach&Bowls hashtag to create organic traffic and aid in establishing a direct connection with our product.
Team: Nereyda Manzano (CBM)