Case Study: California Pizza Kitchen reignites cultural relevance with Iris

California Pizza Kitchen boosts Instagram social shares 10000% with Iris

The customer, California Pizza Kitchen, was facing a cultural relevance challenge as it approached its 40th anniversary. Vendor Iris was engaged to help the restaurant brand overcome this and reignite hype.

Iris developed a solution where CPK staged a fictional midlife crisis, launching a fake minimalist rebrand to generate buzz. The vendor then had a celebrity superfan crash the new look, steering the brand back to its roots and creating a rallying cry to embrace its identity. This approach led to a 10,000% increase in Instagram shares, a 300% increase in engagement, and a 40% increase in social media followers for CPK.

California Pizza Kitchen