Success Stories | 2021 SoMa Business Accelerator Program
Uncle Tito — with Plinth Agency
Background
Uncle Tito, formerly known as Straight Up, began as a pop-up bar 2015. Founded by life-long friends, Paolo Dayao, Joseph Alcasabas, and Joseph’s cousin and cocktail enthusiast, Randolph Cabrera, the business grew from their bartending days. When Vince Dayao, Paolo’s youngest brother and sous chef at Namu, joined the team, he added a new dimension to Straight Up’s mixology consultation and bar services: Filipino cuisine.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, small businesses suffered — and Straight Up was no exception. Operating on an event-based schedule, the shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area stalled future projects. Despite this setback, the Filipino-American business owners took the time to pause, reflect, and pivot, utilizing their contacts to create opportunities for their burgeoning pop-up. Rebranding as Uncle Tito, they personify the qualities of your favorite uncle through Filipino-American comfort food.
Uncle Tito participated in SEED’s SoMa Business Accelerator in 2021, aiming to adapt their business in light of current times and convey the founders’ identity and personalities in the process.
Consultation & Partnership
The new owners decided it was time to pivot their specialized cocktail mobile bar into a Filipino comfort food pop-up. They wanted to rebrand completely: including a new website, logo design, verbal identity and social media training to expand their reach by bringing their operations online with easy access to delivery services.
Based on their business needs, Uncle Tito was paired with Plinth Agency, a service-providing B2B member of the SEED Network. The Plinth team worked closely with the owners to redefine their brand identity to represent the authenticity of the Filipino-American owners, while taking a light and humorous approach in paying tribute to their cultural roots.
Plinth developed a website reflects the fresh, yet nostalgic feel of the new Uncle Tito, taking a mold-breaking approach to stand out from similar competitors while enticing their target audience.
Through the Instagram hashtag and tagline #MeriendaAndChill (“Snack and chill”), Plinth helped Uncle Tito launch a social media campaign in response to pandemic times that encouraged online and app-based orders of take-home “baon box” orders & party platters due to halts with in-person dining.
Results
From their time in SoMa Business Development Accelerator, Uncle Tito successfully pivoted to a saw an increase in web traffic during the pandemic, optimized for Uber Eats and DoorDash. Their social media training on consistent posting, stronger branding, and marketing campaigns improved their social media metrics by 5x the followers.
Since their program participation, while Uncle Tito continues to fulfill digital orders and make rounds as pop-up eatery, they have also re-opened and expanded their restaurant space — located at 59 9th Street in downtown San Francisco.
This project was fully-funded by The SEED Program though our partner, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
All services were provided to Arkipelago Books for free as a participant of our SoMa Business Development Accelerator program.
Learn more about…
Uncle Tito
Client & Participant, SoMa Business Development Accelerator Plinth Agency
Consulting B2B Service Provider, Business Matchmaking Grant
