Themed restaurants offer new experiential consumption culture

At Ramen Iroha, a cartoon dog co-branded theme restaurant in Causeway Bay, Iris Lee, 20,  takes pictures of the dishes and shares them on Instagram. 

“I’m a fan of Pochacoo,” Lee said. “I come here not just because the ramen is delicious but to experience being surrounded by lovely Pochacoo.”

All the decorations in Ramen Iroha are filled with Pochacco elements, including the food itself. Soon after its launch in December 2024, an Instagram post on Ramen Iroha went viral, attracting long lines of customers.

Cyrus Lin, 37, the founder of Ramen Iroha, said during the peak hours, consumers may have to wait in line for up to three hours.

“Today’s consumers attach great importance to the experiential value of their purchases and seek emotional engagement and social interaction with brands,” Lin said.

“I love Pochacco, I came specifically to check in after reading the promotion on Instagram,” said Donnie Yu, 27, a bank worker. “I will also share my dining experience on social media.”

“In an era dominated by social media, I think sharing unique experiences has become an important consumption trend,” Yu added. “Sharing such experiential consumption experiences satisfies my emotional and social needs.”

Ramen Iroha is one of many restaurants that have risen in fame in the city in recent months and co-branded with well-known intellectual property images. Since January, co-branded restaurants such as Kingsley Cafe × Snoopy, Black Wood LZAKAYA × Cinnamoroll, and ABURI EN × Attack on Titan have also been launched. 

“Along with the growth in the number of such restaurants, there is also a growing demand from consumers for immersive experiences in the catering industry,” Lin said. “Space layout, tableware design, dish placement, and even the service style of employees are all details that need to be improved.”

Lin said Ramen Iroha will continue to launch at least four new IP co-brands this year. 

Seizing the opportunity of Snoopy's 75th anniversary, Kingsley Cafe in Mong Kok has become the first restaurant in Asia to launch a Snoopy anniversary-themed restaurant.

Fiona Lam, the manager of Kingsley Cafe, said the themed restaurant markets in Japan and Taiwan are more mature. “We hope to benchmark against them to create a themed restaurant experience unique to Hong Kong,” Lam said.

Every time there is an IP collaboration, Kingsley Cafe will renovate all the dishes. 

“I am confident that compared to similar IP co-branded restaurants, we have at least 50% more choices in dishes, beverages, peripheral products, and gifts, " Lam said.

“Co-branding with IP is quite expensive, with each cooperation costing about HK$780,000,” Lam said. "Approximately 60% is the IP copyright fee, and 40% is the investment in other resources such as scene decoration and peripheral products." 

The collaboration with Snoopy has increased Kingsley Cafe’s people flow by 30%. “It really surprised me that some Snoopy fans are so crazy that they even want to book the whole place to hold fan gatherings or birthday parties, " Lam said.

All customers dining in the restaurant can participate in the lottery draw to get Snoopy merchandise such as badges and pendants, which are designed by the merchants themselves and unique in the market.

“From food to souvenirs, from atmosphere to service, I feel as if I have truly entered Snoopy's anime world,” said Ada Wong, a 25-year-old freelancer. “The emotional value this restaurant provides is satisfying.”

Lam mentioned that in the increasingly competitive IP co-branded restaurant market, it is difficult to achieve sustainable development without uniqueness and novelty.

“To enhance the consumers’ unique sense of interaction and experience, we plan to hold DIY activities where consumers can decorate dishes with IP elements,”  Lam said.

Yuki Ma, CEO of the Hong Kong Restaurant and Related Industries Federation, said Hong Kong's catering industry needs new ideas to compensate for a large number of consumers traveling to the mainland to spend their money. 

Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department figures show that the provisional estimate of the total revenue value of Hong Kong restaurants in the third quarter of 2024 is HK$26.87 billion, a decrease of 1.3% compared to the previous quarter.

“With the gradual recovery of the cultural, entertainment, and tourism industries, the prospects of IP-themed restaurants are relatively optimistic,” Ma said.

According to the 2024 Chief Executive Policy Address, the government promised to come up with policies and implement measures in branding and marketing to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the catering industry.

“IP-themed restaurants have come into being as restaurant operators find new ways to attract customers, coupled with changing lifestyles and young consumers’ pursuit of personalised and fresh experiences,” Ma said.

In November 2024, Black Wood LZKAYA in Tsim Sha Tsui made their first attempt at IP co-branding with a cartoon dog, Cinnamoroll.

Meh Yang, 30, is the manager of the Black Wood LZKAYA. She began to try IP co-branding because she saw the success of similar eateries.

“The IP co-branding model captures consumers' wishes to experience new things,” Yang said. “It is a consumer trend now and in the future because it caters to consumers’ concepts of experience first and personalisation.”

KK Wan, a Consumer Experience and Service Management professor at Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, said while IP-themed restaurants in Hong Kong are an innovative business model that can attract customer traffic in the short term, it is not a foolproof strategy for revitalizing the restaurant industry.

“Consumers will carefully examine and question poorly matched co-branding. Some restaurants that blindly pursue customer traffic, have poor quality control, and arbitrarily increase prices will damage brand value and consumer trust,” Wan said.

Thera Tai, 22, a big fan of the manga fantasy Attack on Titan, had a boring experience at ABURIEN, a Japanese restaurant that launched an IP collaboration.

“This store only uses the IP joint name as a gimmick to attract consumers, and there were no novel changes in the interior environment and dish settings,” Tai said. “It did not contribute to an immersive experience at all, which disappointed me a lot.”

Wan said that when integrating IP elements into the restaurant environment, it should not merely be surface decorations, such as posting a few posters and placing several IP dolls.

“Operators should carefully choose IP characters that match their brand and market appeal, then integrate IP elements into the overall environment and details of the restaurant,” Wan said. “Always attract consumers with IP charm and retain consumers with immersive experiences.”

Yuki Ma said restaurants should always take a long-term view, not a short-term gain.

“Excellent product quality, careful service, continuous innovation ability, and a stable supply chain are indeed the foundations for IP-theme restaurants to gain a foothold in the market,” Ma said.