Client Name

Cook'd Brands

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Amer Iqbal Awan

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

Our project aligns with Entrepreneurship and Innovation because Cook’d Brands is a startup using a virtual food brand model to help restaurants earn more revenue from their existing kitchens. Through this project, we worked on improving Cook’d’s digital presence by creating brand strategies, content calendars, social media posts, and performance-based recommendations for Cook’d Brands, Slutty Buns, and Side Tings.

It also connects with Behavioral Studies because our content strategy was based on how audiences behave online. We studied what UK customers respond to, such as humour, cravings, relatable content, reels, and personality-driven posts. For example, Side Tings performed better when burger personalities and interactive content were used, showing that audience emotions and engagement patterns were important to the strategy.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Aligned SDGs Justification

Our project aligns mainly with Decent Work and Economic Growth because Cook’d Brands helps restaurants earn more revenue from their existing kitchens without needing extra space or major investment. Through our project, we supported this by improving Cook’d’s digital marketing, brand presence, and B2B communication so they can attract more restaurant partners.

It also connects with Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure because Cook’d uses an innovative virtual food brand model. Our work helped strengthen this model through content strategies, social media systems, performance analysis, and brand-building for Cook’d Brands, Slutty Buns, and Side Tings. This supports innovation in the food-tech and delivery-based restaurant industry.

NDA

No

Abstract

This report documents the Experiential Learning Project ELP undertakenn by a team of four students from the Institute of Business Administration IBA Karachi on behalf of Cook’d Brands Limited, a UK registered virtual food brand group operating across 145+ partner restaurant locations in the United Kingdom. The project was called “Integrated Social Growth and Content Strategy” , and it ran for about four months from February to June 2026, under the supervision of Sir Amer Awan and in direct collaboration with Cook’d’s Karachi team. Kamran Nazeer (Marketing Manager) functioned as the client supervisor, so that everything stayed aligned with their day-to-day inputs.

The primary objective of this ELP was to create and implement a differentiated, sustainable model of social media content for three distinct brands under the Cook’d umbrella. These brands include the parent company, Cook’d Brands, and the consumer brands, Slutty Buns and Side Tings. We organized our efforts into four phases. Phase 1 consisted of research and diagnosis, Phase 2 was dedicated to structure and content planning, Phase 3 consisted of the development and execution of content, and Phase 4 focused on analysis and transition.

Phase 1 consisted of an in-depth scan of the UK audience and market and an assessment of UK consumer behavior, coupled with the formal benchmarking of 4 competitors in the UK Virtual Food Brand space. This phase developed detailed audience personas for both B2C and B2B audiences based on focus respondents. B2C audience respondents were UK Gen Z and Millennials, ages 18 - 30; B2B audience respondents were independent restaurant owners and operators. This phase pulled and used consumer language, based on responses from the TikTok comment section and Reddit threads, to avoid guesswork and bias. Phase 2 delivered brand-specific tone of voice and content pillars along with templates for a monthly content calendar for all 3 brands. A B2B lead generation funnel for the Cook’d corporate channel was developed in parallel to these activities. Phase 3 was the publishing phase and included a 3-post-per-week cadence on both Instagram and LinkedIn through the end of May 2026, with posts pre-approved by the client, without exception. Phase 4 included the consolidation of client requested analytics, completion of the strategic scaling roadmap, and development of the full handover toolkit.

Key performance results from the May 2026 execution period show 7,475 total views on the Cook’d corporate Instagram page, with 72.5% of viewers being non-followers. There was an increase of 475.9% in profile visits. There were 15 reposts of B2B education posts. The most popular post, “If You Own a Restaurant, Read This,” had 919 views. The nine launch phase posts by Side Tings had a total of 127 views. Personality driven content often outperforms product photography. Two organic reels by Slutty Buns had over 500 and 150 views, with zero advertising. Cook’d Brands’ LinkedIn page had a steady follower count of 305, with a 150% weekly increase in new followers and high engagement on educational carousels.

The team conducted original market entry research on Cook’ds’ planned entry into Spain, the priority market for Cook’d in Europe, as an additional deliverable. Spain’s online food delivery market is valued at USD 1.82 billion in 2024 and is forecasted to reach USD 2.37 billion by 2030. The research identified important gaps in the Spanish market, including the lack of consumer trust in dark kitchens and Glovo’s poor service. The team developed a market entry playbook focused on radical transparency, relevance, and the building of a community prior to launch.

This project is categorized under the Entrepreneurship and Innovation thought leadership area at IBA’s School of Business Studies. This project employs the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8: Promoting Decent Work and Economic Growth. The project supports an international startup to create sustainable additional income for independent restaurant partners located throughout the UK. The report ends with strategic recommendations for short, medium, and long-term goals, a team member’s reflection on experiential learning and comprehensive appendices with all performance studies, meeting minutes, records and summaries for brand architecture and a checklist for deliverables.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

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