Since August this year, we’ve been working alongside Mahiki to launch the world famous Tiki bar in the great city of Manchester!
Mahiki is the biggest Tiki bar in the world. Opening in 2005 on Dover Street in Mayfair, Mahiki quickly became the talk of the capital as it hosted celebs from royalty (Princes William and Harry) to, well, not royalty (Paris Hilton!). From there the Mahiki brand expanded to Dubai, Marbella and Sardinia, with Kensington set to open soon.
Arch Creative have been commissioned to create a suite of marketing design collateral to accompany the most glamorous opening so far – Manchester. Our old stomping ground – we’re familiar with the local scenery through our work with Gino D’Acampo’s restaurants – operated by the Individual Restaurant Company, who’re based in the North West.
Mahiki Manchester opened on Saturday 1st October. A few of the Arch team were lucky enough to attend a pre-launch event in the week preceding the opening. It was a school night, but we couldn’t resist a couple of cocktails and a bit of a dance in Manchester. It sounds like we’re justifying ourselves – but having a night out at Mahiki has really brought home some of our design ideas given us a sense that our creativity was heading in the right direction. Honest.
Whilst they weren’t there for the launch we attended, celebs such as Gary Neville (the Mahiki joint-owner) and none other than David Beckham showed their faces over the weekend.
So far, we’ve been developing a distinct look for Mahiki Manchester that still chimes with the original brand. As well as helping develop the brand we’ve created a range of social media graphics, menus, copywriting, printed marketing collateral and email campaigns to replicate the Mahiki spirit alongside a more retro Tiki aesthetic. Thanks to the original success of the Mahiki brand, lots of copycat Tiki bars have sprung up, so we wanted our designs to have a completely original feel. We’ve illustrated a series of new pin-up style Mahiki girls – or ‘Hula Honey’s’ as they are affectionately known – keep an eye out over the coming weeks for these.
“Mahiki coming to Manchester has created a huge buzz! It was their 2nd site in the UK and their 1st site out of London since opening the doors in Mayfair 12 years ago. A joint venture between Piers Adams, owner of Mahiki and GG hospitality, we needed to find a design agency that helped us create a strong brand identity whilst keeping on brand with the existing Mahiki theme with added modern/Manchester twist! Arch have been amazing with such speedy turnaround times, communication and ideas. Looking forward to seeing what else we create for the brand.”
We wanted to bring across the origin of Tiki – a kitschy, novelty theme for bars and restaurants that originated in 1930s America with bars like Don The Beachcombers and Trader Vics. The overarching aesthetic is Polynesian – think hula skirts, surfboards, flower garlands and rum.
We’re looking forward to more work with Manchester’s newest addition – and a few cocktails along the way…