From software that serves up data
To software that serves people.
CHALLENGE
Toast — a restaurant POS and management system — was losing share to competitors like Square and Clover. In a crowded SaaS category full of sterile, tech-driven messaging, Toast needed to reclaim what made it different: its genuine understanding of hospitality and the humans who live it every day.
STRATEGY
Most tech companies talk at restaurants. Toast talks like them. Our strategy was to connect with the heart of hospitality through humor and shared experience — showing restaurateurs, chefs, and servers that we see their chaos, their pain, and their pride. By turning empathy into entertainment, we positioned Toast as the tech brand built by and for restaurant people.
CREATIVE SOLUTION
The hero film, “Back in the Day,” commiserates with restaurant workers by taking them on a playful trip through time — a look back at how frustrating it used to be to run a restaurant before Toast existed. The campaign struck a perfect tone: honest without doom, funny without exaggeration (well, okay, maybe a little.). Supported by digital, social, and streaming audio, the work gave Toast’s sales team relatable, memorable air cover as they introduced new products in a hypercompetitive market.
RETURN ON CREATIVE
- 97% Video Completion Rate (Hulu / Undertone CTV)
- 72% YouTube Completion Rate (vs. 65% benchmark)
- 20M+ Impressions
- +37% Relative Lift in Search for Toast and related keywords
