Client and context
Aqua Shard is more than a restaurant. It is a London landmark. Perched on Level 31 of The Shard, it offers contemporary British cuisine against the capital’s most spectacular backdrop. Part of the global Aqua Restaurant Group, it is a flagship venue where the experience is as premium as the menu.
However, running a destination venue brings a unique challenge: while sunset dinners sell themselves, filling the room for lunch services requires a different tactical approach. They needed to shift the perception from “special occasion only” to the “must-do lunch stop” for high-value tourists visiting London.
The objectives
With a world-class product already in place, the goal was purely about acquisition efficiency:
- Primary (Business): Increase lunch bookings by specifically targeting the high-volume tourist market already in the area.
- Secondary (Efficiency): Prove clear ROI through advanced tracking and establish Aqua Shard as the undisputed #1 dining choice for visitors to The Shard.
The challenge
Even iconic venues face friction. Aqua Shard’s digital challenges included:
The “view” paradox:
- Competition for attention: Tourists are bombarded with dining options in London Bridge. We needed to cut through the noise at the exact moment they were planning their day.
- The “dinner bias”: Most users naturally search for “dinner with a view.” Shifting intent towards “lunch” required a highly persuasive hook.
- Tracking blind spots: They needed robust data to understand exactly which ads were driving real covers, not just vanity clicks.
The strategy
We moved away from generic “fine dining” messaging and deployed a “Location & Occasion” strategy tailored to the tourist mindset.
We knew that for a tourist, time is currency. Our ads didn’t just sell food; they sold the quintessential London moment. We leveraged dynamic targeting to serve responsive ads that highlighted the iconic views (Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s) exactly when users were searching for local landmarks. Crucially, we worked directly with their developers to implement deep conversion tracking, ensuring we could trace a digital click all the way to a confirmed table.
Key actions
We executed a precision campaign focused on relevance and testing:
- Vibe-focused creative: We A/B tested multiple messages. The clear winner? “Location-first” ads that framed lunch at Aqua Shard as an essential sightseeing stop, not just a meal.
- Smart retargeting: We captured interest from visitors researching The Shard and served them high-intent ads to secure the booking before they looked elsewhere.
- Technical integration: We set up granular tracking to measure “converting calls” and reservations, giving the client total visibility on their ad spend.
The results
The campaign didn’t just drive traffic; it drove revenue. The impact was so significant that the strategy was immediately rolled out to the group’s other venues (Hutong, Nueva, and Kyoto).
+105%Higher Click-Through Rate (CTR)
+100%Increase in daily conversions
89Direct converting calls tracked
4Venues now using this strategy
The data proved our hypothesis: location wins. By aligning the creative with the tourist’s desire for an “iconic experience,” we achieved a 105% higher CTR than previous benchmarks. Most importantly, we doubled the daily volume of conversions, filling those critical lunch covers with high-value guests ready to spend.