The challenge: Chichilo carried deep culinary heritage and was well known within Oaxaca Centro for 35+ years but limited visibility outside its immediate market and kept losing local consumers to new competition around its area. The founders wanted to preserve the restaurant's cultural role and didn't yet have the brand infrastructure to open the restaurant to a broader, increasingly international audience.

The strategy: I built a bilingual brand identity almost from scratch, designed to speak to two audiences simultaneously: the local community for whom Chichilo is a cultural institution, as well as national and international travelers looking for a meaningful cultural encounter. The strategic move was to treat authenticity as an asset to be communicated, not just performed by using bicultural narrative to make the restaurant legible without diluting it. The core objective: reposition the brand for both locals and international travelers.

The work:

• Full rebrand and positioning by storytelling
• Bilingual campaign development (English / Spanish)
• Content strategy across Meta, TikTok, and Google Business Profile
• Paid media strategy and execution
• Ongoing performance dashboards and creative optimization
• My role: strategy lead, creative direction, content creation and founder-level client management.

Outcome:

• Meta following grew 5x
• 794K TikTok views in a single year, 100% organic and with measured conversions
• Went from 0 to a sustained 4.7-star Google rating
• $0.072 cost per result on paid campaigns
• 2026 Acreditación Social Internacional from the Ibero-American Human Rights Commission (CIDHPDA) for the cultural preservation of traditional Oaxacan cuisine
• Featured in Quién magazine as an unmissable stop

In Paco's words, founder of Chichilo:

“They inspire people to experience our cuisine. M2Squared completely transformed our digital presence. I used to doubt the impact of social media, but today, 90% of our customers discover us through TikTok or Instagram. Their content captivates, connects, and inspires people to visit Chichilo. But what I value most is their empathy, their energy, and the genuine care they show my team. Mariana and her team bring together strategy, passion, and real results.”