Dendeng Bakar Cafe a Maverick
in Social Media Marketing
Growling hungry stomachs and the smell of smoked beef tickle the senses of would-be customers of Dendeng Bakar Cafe in the new Legasi Kampung Baru mixed development area.
The Dendeng Bakar Cafe, situated in the heart of the Kampung Baru mixed development area, Legasi Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Source: Fuad Nizam
A brainchild of Firdaus Afiq, a young entrepreneur with a background in advertising muscles his way through the food and beverage industry with his unique cafe of Chinese-fusion delicacy revolving around smoked beef jerky or ‘Dendeng Bakar’.
“I have been selling Dendeng Bakar for two since the start of the lockdown. But I started selling them at this cafe for four months,” he added.
Before making his way into the Dendeng Bakar Cafe business, Firdaus learnt the ins and outs in the food and hospitality industry.
With his multifaceted skills in both advertising and the food and hospitality industry, Firdaus set out to run his gastronomic business from having little to no customers, to nearly hundreds, all from his viral marketing strategy.
Reaping the benefits of viral marketing
Jumping on the TikTok viral train, Firdaus pushes his marketing and creativity prowess in pursuit of driving his customer reach and sales for his cafe.
“Never did we get so many customers, usually it's just ghosts that accompany us at the shop," Firdaus jokingly said in one of his viralled TikTok video postings.
One of Dendeng Bakar Cafe’s quirky but effective marketing strategies on their TikTok account. Source: TikTok/DendengBakarCafe
This form of viral marketing paid off for him as initially his establishment only garnered less than ten customers a day and even less during the fasting month of Ramadan.
“When we started in March this year, it was very hard to get even ten customers. It becomes worse during the fasting month. To get five months is super hard.”
"Suddenly during the middle of the fasting month, one of my Tik Tok videos about a chinese cafe in Kampung Baru went viral.
"Soon after, I got about 50 to 60 customers a day. Now on average, I receive around 100 to 200 customers per day," Firdaus added.
He shared that different social media platforms have different strengths and weaknesses in marketing his cafe.
“Understanding that marketing is essentially a way to let people know of
our product.”
This viral marketing also has led Ahmad Zamri, from Selayang to become a regular here.
He discovered this cafe through a viral video on Facebook. Out of curiosity, he came to the store with his wife and loved the meals sold.
“If I had to rate his food out of 10, I’d give him
10 out of 10.”
“For me, the most interesting meals sold here are rice and Pan Mee.
"The texture of the rice is not too soft and not too hard, just perfect. The Dendeng Bakar was cooked to perfection,” he said.
E-commerce is the future of business
Firdaus pounces on every chance he has to expand or improve Dendeng Bakar Cafe’s customer experience with a multitude of online e-commerce platforms.
Dendeng Bakar Cafe caters to those who are not available to physically come to the eatery by having numerous online delivery and e-commerce options.
“I found that early at the start of our business, people who come to our establishment are not from the local area but are out of town.”
“The good thing about using e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada, I can reach out to a wider audience.”
The sales of Dendeng Bakar through e-commerce platforms also reflects positively with amounts reaching 3000 units on Shopee alone.
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Firdaus’s Dendeng Bakar Cafe goes online on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee to further expand his customer’s reach. Source: Shopee/DendengBakarCafe
Unfazed by challenges
Challenges are the norm in business and Firdaus likes to think that it is an opportunity for him to improve.
“When faced with challenges, we need not worry but rather consider it as a stepping stone to improvement.”
Facing shortage of workers, Firdaus turned to technology again with the help of menu ordering platforms.
“We currently have a shortage of workers, hence to allow efficient ways of ordering, queueing and receiving orders.
"I implemented a QR code menu and payment option at each table to allow both myself and the customers to have a smooth experience from the kitchen to the table,” he said.
Paying for the Dendeng Bakar also leaves no hassle for the customers as Firdaus implements various online and e-wallet platforms.
Feeling the wake of the rising rate of inflation hitting the country, bringing prices of household items and produce up, Firdaus also has plans in prepping the eatery to weather through it.
“Price hikes in items such as cooking oil and meats has made our costs for the menu items to increase by 15 to 20 percent.
“I don’t want the customers to think that our prices are too expensive, hence I’ll reduce my profit margins and focus on the volume,” he adds.
He felt reluctant on shifting the extra costs to his customers but instead chose to maintain the prices of the menu and absorb some losses and focus on sales volume.
“For me, if I want to increase the price, our customers will think it is a bit pricey. So what we do is we reduce the profit and play around with volume.”
The way forward for Dendeng Bakar Cafe
Firdaus’s first and foremost plan for the future is to get more manpower for the cafe. He wants to move to a different outlet where they will operate as a full service dining eatery.
He also envisioned making an express version for the cafe where customers can savour his cooking on-the-go.
“Future of Dendeng Bakar Cafe is moving out of this location and opening a full service eatery and an express kiosk for our customers.”
“For customers who want to sit down and enjoy a heavy meal, they can come inside. But for people who just want to eat lightly, then we have an express version of the cafe for them to try out Dendeng Bakar.”