Huy Tran is an award-winning photographer and National Marketing Director at Aburi Restaurants Canada, where he drives strategy across Michelin-starred brands and retail concepts. Known for launching major partnerships with TIFF and American Express, his past roles at foodora and WPP Media reflect a rare blend of creative design and data-driven marketing. His design work has been featured in TIME, and he actively supports social impact initiatives.
Looking back, what was the defining moment or experience that drew you toward the marketing space? How did that initial interest evolve into your current role as National Marketing Director at Aburi Restaurants Canada?
Photography and design actually drew me into the field of marketing. I started as a portrait photographer, then transitioned into food photography, and began writing blog posts about food and creating videos that showcased food editing using Adobe Photoshop. Observing how people react to my blog posts about restaurant recommendations, I realize that an influence can be created by combining photography, creative copywriting, and other design elements to convert a hungry reader into a booked reservation.
From visual design to digital campaigns, your work spans multiple platforms. How do you ensure consistency in brand identity while tailoring content to fit the unique tone of each channel?
I would say it is a combination of understanding the target audience for each different platform, different brands, in the case of Aburi Restaurants, there are multiple brands of restaurants with various target audiences, and how they react to trends and what they consider to be value add.
Education is another key component of our marketing strategy. Being a Japanese brand using global ingredients and techniques, there are constant opportunity to educate guests on new experiences, and oftentimes that presents the opportunity for us to become the first to introduce a concept to our guests, and being first is always most memorable. Being consistent with branding and the frequency of content also helps.
Designing new dining experiences do not always have to be brand new; they can be old but reimagined.
What are some of the key challenges you have observed at the industry level, and how do you adapt your marketing strategies to stay ahead and drive continued brand growth?
The rate at which media is being consumed right now poses a significant challenge to marketing operations. It creates more content demand while decreasing the memorability and attention span of the guests. It makes it harder for us to create what is considered a high-impact piece of content or marketing tactic, since the market is oversaturated. We combat this by focusing on creating evergreen content and dining experiences that are easily adaptable. For example, recurring dining experiences that change theme monthly or quarterly. They have a key concept that has previously been proven to work, and while they might take less effort to refresh, it still allows us to present some newness without having to restart the entire content game plan.
Consumer expectations in the food and hospitality industry are evolving rapidly. What trends in guest engagement, design, or digital media are you watching most closely and how are you adapting your strategy accordingly?
The format of designing a community-forward experience has been what I am watching most closely. For example, chef collaboration dinners, food festivals, food pop-ups, member club dinners, and dating and networking dinners. At Minami Toronto, our King West property in Toronto, we have been working with Timeleft from Paris to host their communal “strangers” dinners, with the customer matching journey being all digital. In Vancouver, we have been hosting Japanese bagel-making classes that pop up in beloved local coffee shops and markets, featuring our concept, WA-BAGEL. I have also been attending some local chef and organizer dinners that offer once-a-month experiences, such as Fat Rice, a Filipino food group, at The Depanneur, and Toronto Night Market, or GardenGarden, a community dance & wine event that gathers every Sunday of Summer.
With your extensive background in digital design and content strategy, what advice would you give to marketers looking to break into the restauant industry and make a bold creative impact?
Designing new dining experiences do not always have to be brand new; they can be old but reimagined. It can help reduce marketing costs while tapping into a proven concept that resonates more effectively with diners.
