When the team behind Fallow, a London restaurant, posted a photo of a laminated croissant inspired by Pulp Fiction, they did not expect it to change much. The image generated roughly 1.6 million views and helped fill Saturday brunch for the next four months. Today, Fallow serves about 1,000 guests on a typical Saturday.
Will Murray and his business partner, Jack Croft, started posting videos years back as a way to bring attention to their restaurant. They eventually became YouTubers. The strategy paid off massively for the restaurant. They started making content four years ago, their social media grew 333%, and the combined platforms now generate between 85 million and 110 million views a month.
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Murray, Croft and even the restaurant became recurring characters. Instead of chasing trends, the team documented what was already happening behind the scenes. Creating the restaurant and the business is the hard part. Creating a good window into it is actually more straightforward, Murray says. The goal was never to become a YouTuber. It was to give people a reason to walk through Fallow’s front door. The cameras, the views and the subscribers all came later.
Murray says you do not need super expensive equipment to get started on YouTube. Even though you will see a lot of videos that look super polished on the site, there are ways to create high-quality videos with just basic equipment. The first bit of advice Murray got was, “Scrappy, not Spielberg.” Murray says you should keep it scrappy and keep it organic. If all you’ve got is a phone, you are more than capable of getting millions and millions of views online. Do not overcomplicate it.
One of Murray’s favorite creators is Canadian restaurateur Steve Droulis, not because of polished production, but because he is authentic. Droulis just seems like a bloke. He turns on the camera, you get what you get. Murray loves it because it is completely authentic and organic to what he does. Murray also points to Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, whose videos could not be more different. Whether it is simple cooking videos or classical French techniques, the best creators all have one thing in common.
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“If you do not want to do it, do not do it. People will see that straight away,” Murray says. The UK is a really, really tough industry at the moment. There is just not enough meat on the bone unless you are willing to engage massively with social media and pull every lever that is available to you. For Murray, the goal was never to become a YouTuber. It was to give people a reason to walk through Fallow’s front door. The cameras, the views and the subscribers all came later.
The restaurant’s success on social media has not come without challenges. Rising costs across the industry have squeezed margins, making audience engagement increasingly important for survival. Running a business today requires pulling every available lever, and for Fallow, that meant building a content strategy alongside the food operation. The cameras, the views and the subscribers all came later.
