Earls Restaurants—an upscale casual dining chain operating nearly 70 restaurants throughout Canada and the United States — wanted to capitalize on the popularity of food photography and drive digital engagement and conversation around their restaurants. Invoke saw the opportunity for a product that moved beyond photos and engaged customers in the human behaviour of dining out.

In recognizing people’s desire to share photos of their most memorable and delicious meals, we recognized that it was about more than the photos. It was about sharing the experience of the meal. What is that dish? How great did it taste? We wanted to provide a digital product that gave people the option to turn their entire social feed into a digital dining table, full of chatter.

That concept became The Social Menu. A product we concepted, designed, and developed on the Facebook Platform to let fans of Earls — and their inspired menu — show off the meals they loved, get inspiration from their foodie friends, and encourage their friends to head out and try a bite. Exploring a menu online is now more like eyeing the mouth-watering dish that landed on the table beside you: it starts the conversation.