Urbanspoon scratched and clawed its way to success, driven by the bootstrapping mindset of founders Adam Doppelt, Ethan Lowry and Patrick O’Donnell. The online restaurant directory grew largely through word-of-mouth; smart SEO and a cutting-edge iPhone application that caught the attention of the marketers at Apple.
Except for a largely unsuccessful radio campaign, Urbanspoon didn’t do much broad-based consumer marketing. But that’s changing this week when the company — which was gobbled up by IAC in 2009 — takes to the airwaves with a new TV ad campaign that’s airing in Seattle.
It comes at a period of significant growth for Urbanspoon, whose unique monthly visitor count now stands at a very impressive 19.5 million. Amazingly, Urbanspoon — despite its big corporate parent — still operates very much as a scrappy startup (that’s part of the reason why the ad campaign caught our eye).
Could this be a sign that Urbanspoon is growing up? Or does it signal heated competition from the likes of Yelp — which just went public — and others?
“It makes sense for them to go into some of these traditional media (outlets) because they are a much bigger business than they are aware of,” said Urbanspoon co-founder Adam Doppelt, who has since left the company and now runs the startup Dwellable.
He’s been impressed with Urbanspoon’s recent growth, calling it a “juggernaut.”
The latest TV ad will run for the next seven weeks in Seattle, highlighting Urbanspoon’s mobile reservation system.
Take a look at the ad and let us know what you think.
Urbanspoon – “SUSHI SPOT” from Stephen Leeds / SLC on Vimeo.