My journey into social media management and branding began at Toscanini, a beloved Italian restaurant in Franeker, the Netherlands. Initially hired as a bartender, I transitioned into the role of social media manager when my academic background came up in conversation with the owners. Around the same time, Toscanini was undergoing a significant transformation, moving beyond its reputation as "just a pizzeria" to establish itself as an upscale Italian dining experience. This shift presented two major challenges: managing an ambitious rebranding effort and maintaining a compelling and consistent social media presence.

With the arrival of a new co-owner, Johannes van Assen, the restaurant sought a refreshed identity that honored its history while embracing modernity. Leading the rebranding efforts, I took on the challenge of redesigning the Toscanini logo, ensuring it aligned with the restaurant’s evolving vision. After extensive iterations and team feedback, we finalized a sleek yet timeless logo, which now features prominently on business cards, menu cards, and staff uniforms.

Shifting Toscanini’s digital identity required a strategic content approach. To break away from the "just a pizzeria" perception, I diversified the restaurant’s social media presence by reducing the frequency of pizza-focused posts and broadening the content spectrum. Now, instead of featuring pizzas multiple times a week, they appear only once or twice a month, allowing space to highlight Toscanini’s full culinary range, from handcrafted pasta to elegant seafood dishes and curated wine pairings.

I developed a structured content strategy, publishing three posts and one story per week, each crafted to engage and educate the audience while reinforcing the restaurant’s refined new image. My responsibilities also included event marketing, community engagement, and handling photography and videography, ensuring all visuals matched Toscanini’s fresh, sophisticated identity.

DATE: JUNE 2023 - ONGOING