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Michael's Bagel
Social & content, Performance ads, Campaigns & events, Packaging
A bagel shop with two crowds, and a reason to visit for each.
Social strategy, menus, product launches, student ads and a streetwear collaboration for a bagel and coffee shop on Strada Armenească.
The challenge
Michael's Bagel opened in the summer of 2025 on Strada Armenească and already had its own look. It needed a steady stream of reasons to visit, for two different crowds: students who want something quick on a weekday, and a 25-plus crowd who come for weekend brunch.
The insight
Continuity and refinement, not repositioning: keep what already works and give each audience its own reason to come in.
The approach
Our proposal started with a short strategy sprint, benchmarked against bagel shops in New York and beyond, and moved into always-on content. In practice that meant a build-your-own menu anyone can order from in five steps, product launches with their own print and posts, a student offer targeted school by school, and a collaboration that put the brand on wrapping paper and a festival giveaway.
The project
Social strategy, menus, product launches, student ads and a streetwear collaboration for a bagel and coffee shop on Strada Armenească.
What we delivered
- Social media strategy
- Build-your-own-bagel menu system: A4, table, coffee board, light-box strip
- Product launches: Pastrami bagel, daily menu
- Meta ads for feed and story
- Student series, one post per nearby high school
- Michael's × Sneaker Industry: A1 poster, giveaway carousel, co-branded wrapping paper
- Activation banner and in-store print
Define — Continuity, two audiences
A proposal built on what already worked: weekday students who grab and go, weekend brunch for the 25-plus crowd, and benchmarks from bagel shops abroad.
Social strategy proposal, November 2025
Design — A menu in five steps
Pick the bagel, the spread, the protein, the vegetables, the sauce. The same system runs on the A4 menu, the table menu, the coffee board and a light-box strip.
Menu system, September 2026
Grow — School by school
A student discount pushed with Meta ads and a scrapbook-style post for each nearby high school, with table booking built into the ads.
Student ads and school posts
Deliver — Launches and a collab
Each new product got print and posts of its own. With Sneaker Industry the brand moved onto co-branded wrapping paper, an A1 poster and a festival giveaway.
Michael's × Sneaker Industry
Results
What it added up to.
Menus, launches, ads and the collaboration all went into the shop and onto its channels between autumn 2025 and October 2026. The shop now speaks to students on weekdays and brunch regulars at the weekend in the same voice, from the menu board to the wrapping paper.
The outcome
What the work changed.
Menus, launches, ads and the collaboration all went into the shop and onto its channels between autumn 2025 and October 2026. The shop now speaks to students on weekdays and brunch regulars at the weekend in the same voice, from the menu board to the wrapping paper.
A note from Alex
Alex Codreanu
Founder and design lead
What the client said
Credits
FA Studios: strategy, menus, social content, ads, print, collaboration design.
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