Thousands of Sydney Opera House images ping onto the internet and throughout the world every day. None of them as evocative as this:
Or this:
Digital agency, Pollen knows a bit about making what Peter Gilmore produces irresistible. The website for his new restaurant, Bennelong, at the Sydney Opera House is the agency’s 3rd platform for Gilmore and The Fink Group.
“We wanted to give people a really visceral sense of what they’re going to experience when they dine at Bennelong. Surprisingly some of the world’s most famous restaurant websites don’t tell the story of what it’s like to be seated at one of their tables, which we think is a missed opportunity,” Brett Mitchell, digital director at Pollen, commented.
The last “missed opportunity” Pollen noticed and seized resulted in the Peter Gilmore App for iPad, an interactive documentary of Gilmore’s food philosophy. It has been awarded at D&AD and AdFest this year, as well as being nominated at the Webbys in NYC.
John Fink, creative director at The Fink Group noted, “We keep returning to the team at Pollen because they bring our venues to life in a really immersive, lively way. They also put a lot of thought into how our digital platforms need to perform as the first point of contact with our customers – our Quay website has been a huge success.”
“A huge success” includes the fact that soon after the website’s launch in 2014, online reservations increased by 84%. And because the site is responsive, 38% of reservations are now completed on mobile and a further 12% on tablet. The restaurant has also been awarded three hats for 14 consecutive years.
Photographer, Brett Stevens, was chosen to depict each of the five dining experiences on offer at the new Bennelong, each with its focus on the fresh Australian produce that’s served there.
Bennelong’s new brand identity was created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney.
Creative credits:
Agency: Pollen
Director: Brett Mitchell
Art Director: Hugo Vann
Creative director: Ross Gales
Developer: Pierre Schweiger
Technical director: Andrew Knott
Producer: Rebecca Smith
Photography: Brett Stevens (Brett Stevens Photography)
