me&u

About Me&U

Founded by entrepreneur Stevan Premutico, me&u is a leading global order & pay platform utilizing advanced features to drive success in hospitality businesses. Me&u uses near-field communication technology which allows patrons to view menus on their phones with a quick tap or by scanning a QR code as well as ordering and paying through their phones without leaving their seats or using their physical cards.

Me&u has grown from 40 employees to 125, with 1,400 venues on the platform with the increased demand for contactless services and software post pandemic. They operate in five entities in four countries and four currencies. New Zealand and the U.S. launched in 2022 as they expanded beyond Australia and the U.K.

THE BACKGROUND:

As a startup with a disruptively innovative solution, me&u wanted to introduce themselves to the US market and successfully roll out to a more robust clientele. With their foot in the door, me&u has proven to be a successful partner in transitioning food brands into an innovative and automated system that allows them to be more profitable and have a more positive impact in retaining employees. However, without the proper brand building and messaging, me&u continued to be a foreign brand to the hospitality industry in the U.S.

THE CHALLENGE:

Covid-19 changed the face of all industries in the world. With the overnight changes in protocols, safety guidelines, and lockdowns, different states in the U.S. showed varying levels of acceptance with the changes.

The post-pandemic market created a very different look at many industries. This resulted to:

• Short-staffing: The unemployment rate blasted from 3.5 percent to 14.7 percent within just days. A November 2022 study by the National Restaurant Association found that 63% of full-service restaurants and 61% of limited-service places were operating with fewer employees than are needed to accommodate guests.
• Consumer interaction: Social distancing, credit card security concerns, as well as long wait times became top challenges for the industry.
• Post-pandemic operational practices: Businesses try to transition their operations to new post- pandemic practices to manage the financial losses during closures.
• Tech upgrade rollouts: Businesses that want to upgrade and improve their services are hesitant due to the difficulties in education and training for new tech as well as the costs that eat into their financials.

THE RESULTS:

JOTO PR created a media outreach campaign that resulted in:

• 63 editorial pieces published, including articles, interviews, and TV spots.
• 2 articles titled Restaurant mogul Danny Meyer wants diners to be able to pay without waiting for check and Food prices increasing in restaurants were published by Tier 6 (high) media outlets, MSN and The New York Post.
• 63 placements published in a span of 11 months equate to an exposure aggregate of 1,000,495,301 unique views.
• Per industry standards, you can expect 2.5%, or 2,5012,382 people to have read articles or have seen or listened to news clips in the first 11 months of the campaign.

JOTO PR leveraged industry news and recurring pain points in the industry that was exacerbated by the pandemic by crafting messages outlining me&u’s innovative technology and how it provides a direct solution to the challenges most businesses were facing.

The media picked up and broadly promoted the efficiently-written work and me&u found themselves moving from an entry-level position in the market to one with better market share and share of voice in the news.

THE FEEDBACK:

"JOTO [PR Disruptors] are experts in their field with the ability to craft compelling stories and messages that land, delivering strong results to help us build brand visibility and achieve our business objectives.

Quick to pivot and adapt in line with feedback, it's been an absolute pleasure working with the team and I look forward to our continued partnership."

-Mei Wong, Head of Marketing, me&u

About Me&u

Me&u is a leading global order & pay platform utilizing advanced features to drive success in hospitality businesses. Their innovative technology Scan.Order.Pay is a solution to issues being experienced by the industry including understaffing and difficulty for businesses to adapt to new technology and pair it with their current systems. Now a growing brand in the U.S., they continue to roll out with ease to more businesses to alleviate their operational pains and bring their business and profits to the new century. Visit https://www.meandu.com/