STRATEGY

As a pandemic crisis solution, Choco created a temporary B2C grocery delivery business model. 5W was challenged to tell Choco's story of being a relatively new restaurant technology startup, while fitting its expertise into its current services and the COVID-19 narrative. With a few similar competitors, it was important to distinguish Choco as a leading, and ever growing, company. As the company pivoted, so did 5W. While Choco offered a B2C initiative in response to COVID-19, the team focused on a B2C strategy. 5W worked closely with Choco's supplier partners to tell local stories of how consumers were getting grocery deliveries during the pandemic, as well as collecting consumer order data to pitch stories on how consumer behavior has shifted during the pandemic. After learning the client saw a greater return on a story in a neighborhood blog than in a major city paper, the 5W team prioritized research to target these blogs to drive awareness of Choco's services.

When the grocery delivery initiative was over, 5W pivoted back to B2B strategies, beginning with a strong funding announcement in April, which strengthened the company's platform and investor's faith in food tech, considering the pandemic. Additionally, through strategic bylines, podcasts and Q&A interview opportunities focused on trade restaurant industry publications, 5W continued to build the profile for Choco's CEO and team. Conversational topics included restaurant-side narratives, sustainability and the future of the restaurant industry post-pandemic.