The challenge: Fougasse had a loyal following at its first two Mexico City locations but growth had stalled. The brand had product quality and neighborhood pull, but no awareness beyond those immediate blocks and no clear brand essence to travel with them into new neighborhoods or scale on social.

The strategy: I treated the expansion as a brand movement, not a marketing campaign. The strategic insight was that Fougasse wasn't selling bread, it was selling a daily ritual, a neighborhood identity, and a sensory experience people wanted to be part of. Applying System 1 principles, I built a brand system designed to trigger emotional pull before rational evaluation.

The work:

• Refined brand essence and positioning
• Built a performance creative content system: repeatable formats optimized for social engagement without diluting brand feel
• Led social-first campaigns tied to each new location opening
• Managed multi-channel organic strategy
• My role: strategy lead, creative direction, content creation and founder-level client management.

Outcome:

• Grew social following from 7K to 50K over 18 months with a completely organic strategy
• Expansion from 2 to 6 locations
• Featured in Mexico’s top newspaper and magazines like: Reforma, El Universal, Estilo DF, Food and Pleasure, Dónde Ir, AGourmet, CDMX Secreta, VO Magazine, and by Marco Beteta
• Sustained brand consistency across all locations, avoiding the dilution most F&B brands experience during multi-unit expansion

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Also worked with Klein’s · Chichilo · Hotel Casa Bonita · Boku · Bebbo · Ajla Gourmet · Heritage · plus 80+ additional brand engagements

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Contact info [email protected] · linkedin.com/in/marianavillabr

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Meet my other Case Studies: Klein’s Chichilo