Edo Client Feature

Vovia has had the pleasure of working with Edo Japan, a Japanese-inspired quick service restaurant founded in Calgary, AB, since early 2020. Specializing in Japanese teppanyaki-style cooking, Edo was founded in 1979 by Reverend Susumu Ikuta, a Japanese Buddhist minister. Over the years, the brand has expanded considerably, with more than 180 locations across BC, AB, SK, MB and ON

Working with Toronto-based creative agency DonerNorth, Edo rolled out a bold new brand identity with evolved creative in the spring of 2023. The identity serves to further push the boundaries for Edo, to expand its brand potential as a convenient option that is better-for-you. 

The platform is anchored with the brand positioning – Honour the Crave. It is a subtle nod to Edo’s Japanese heritage and reinforces to customers that they deserve to treat themselves with a delicious, fresh, and convenient meal. The brand platform features ‘craveable’ photography showcasing appetizing, fresh ingredients, bold design, and playful copy directed to both new and established markets. The brand redesign distinguishes Edo from the QSR competition by highlighting: its famous teriyaki sauce, high-quality, fresh ingredients, and teppan grill cooking.

In 2023 Vovia strategically executed an integrated national advertising campaign to support the launch of Edo’s new brand platform. It was rooted in research which revealed that the Edo brand out-ranks the market in defining factors like strong value for your money, which aligns with the company’s focus on delivering quality food and ‘craveable’ flavour. 

An omnichannel approach was taken to grow consideration with the target customer and build awareness across the country — spanning across broadcast TV, OOH, digital radio, social media, search, video, and display. With Out-of-Home, a tailored amplification approach allowed Edo to efficiently leverage the brand campaign media buy to bolster support for new store openings across BC and Ontario. On the digital side, Google’s Performance Max product played an important role as a hybrid channel, driving both conversions and awareness.  

Campaign performance exceeded benchmarks across all platforms. Reports from digital platforms showed high impressions and measures of engagement indicating that the messaging was relevant and successful at connecting with the target audience. In the first stages of the campaign, results showed over 297 million ad impressions (+138% from previous year) and 15% awareness amongst the target audience. Signals also indicate that this brand power is helping fuel performance across other programs like limited time offers, with Edo seeing their new Japanese Curry Chicken campaign exceed sales targets in 2023.   

Edo is a strong collaborative partner and we work closely together with DonerNorth as an integrated agency team. We are excited about the Honour the Crave brand evolution as we look towards 2024 and plan support for both Edo’s new app and Edo Cash™ loyalty initiative. 

Fun Fact: Did you know you can buy Edo’s famous teriyaki sauce by the bottle to enjoy with your favourite home cooked meals?