Michiu × RAI — Master Strategic Plan 2026

Synthesises: full-funnel strategy, spend-tier framework, LinkedIn playbook, competitive landscape, individual event briefs. This is the single document to read before any RAI-related execution decision.

The Situation in One Paragraph

RAI Amsterdam draws 250,000+ business visitors per year — exactly Michiu's Corporate Booker audience. Every competitor within 400m of RAI is passive: they sit on Scheldestraat, put a sign in the window, and wait. Vis aan de Schelde is on the RAI organiser portal; everyone else is on TripAdvisor. Nobody runs LinkedIn campaigns targeting conference attendees by job title. Nobody does event-week outreach to exhibitors and speakers. The field is empty. Michiu's location (5–7 min walk vs. 2–3 min for Scheldestraat) is the only disadvantage — and it is irrelevant to every channel except walk-by foot traffic. The strategy is to win every other channel so completely that the walk-by advantage is neutralised before delegates are anywhere near Scheldestraat.

The Strategic Clock

Late 2027 / 2028: Nobu Amsterdam opens. Robert De Niro's Nobu brand — Japanese-Peruvian, global prestige, 1–1.5 km from Michiu. US executives know Nobu. When it opens, every international CB delegate who has not yet eaten at Michiu will have a compelling reason to try Nobu instead.

The acquisition window is now to late 2027. Every IBC, Money20/20, and ISPO relationship built in 2026–2027 is a retained customer before Nobu opens. This gives the plan urgency beyond normal growth logic.

The North Star

By IBC 2027, Michiu is the default answer when a RAI event delegate — at any seniority level, from any country — asks "where should I eat this week?"

Not one of the options. The default. The one name that comes up repeatedly — from the RAI organiser portal, from the LinkedIn ad they saw two weeks ago, from the Penn message in their inbox, from the colleague who went last year, from the Google Maps result when they search at 17:00.

Three Strategic Layers

Layer 1 — Infrastructure (Do Once, Works Forever)

Getting Michiu into the channels where RAI delegates look. Free or near-free. These are not campaigns — they are permanent structural fixes. Nothing else works without them.

Layer 2 — Active Campaigns (Per Event, On the Calendar)

Event-timed marketing that intercepts the right person at the right moment. LinkedIn, Penn outreach, Instagram, GBP posts. These require budget and execution effort but have a clear ROI because the audience is defined.

Layer 3 — The Flywheel (Compounds Over Time)

Each booking generates a review. Reviews improve Google Maps ranking. Better ranking generates walk-in bookings. Walk-ins who become regulars refer colleagues. IBC groups who ate at Michiu in 2026 book again in 2027 and bring different clients. The investment compounds.

Layer 1 — Infrastructure

These five items are the foundation. Until they are live, every campaign runs at a fraction of its potential.

1.1 RAI Partner Restaurant Listing

What: Get Michiu listed on rai.nl/en/organiser/your-location/restaurants as an external partner restaurant.
Context: RAI primarily promotes their own internal F&B (The Traveller, Café Amsterdam, First Floor, Grand Café, The Food Collective, Strandzuid). However, the page also lists a small number of external partner restaurants: Vis aan de Schelde, Cantina L'Esquina, and Selva. This is a curated shortlist, not an open directory.
Why it matters: Being on this page means congress organisers for IBC, Money20/20, and every other RAI event see Michiu as a recommended dinner option for their delegates. The recommendation carries RAI's implicit endorsement. Vis aan de Schelde is on it — almost certainly because they have a direct relationship with RAI's hospitality team built over years of proximity.
Action: This is a relationship, not a form submission. The route in is a direct conversation with RAI's food & beverage or organiser services management — either via a warm introduction or a cold approach to the relevant RAI contact. The pitch: "We're 5 minutes from RAI, Cantonese-Japanese, group bookings and full exclusive hire, the most unique Asian dining option in Amsterdam-Zuid — a natural complement to your internal F&B for delegates who want to explore the neighbourhood."
Realistic timeline: Weeks 4–8. This is a medium-term relationship target, not a quick fix.
Owner: Casper (relationship outreach)
Cost: €0

1.2 michiu.nl/events Page (EN + NL)

What: A dedicated groups and events page on the Michiu website.
Why it matters: VINNIES (Scheldestraat 45) ranks on Google page one for "corporate dinner near RAI Amsterdam" because they have a /private-dining page that explicitly names RAI proximity. Michiu has no equivalent page and does not rank. Every delegate Googling "dinner RAI Amsterdam" before they arrive finds VINNIES, not Michiu.
What the page must contain:

• "5 minutes from RAI Amsterdam" in the H1 or opening line
• Group bookings — any size the floor accommodates
• Exclusive hire — full restaurant for a fixed fee (the only exclusive option)
• Contact form + events@michiu.nl + phone
• EN and NL versions
• One clear photo of the dining room at capacity Action: Brief michiu-website developer. Page design and copy can be drafted immediately from the content already in these docs.
  Owner: Casper (web dev brief) + Penn (copy)
  Timeline: Weeks 1–3.
  Cost: Design/dev time only — €0 copy, ~€300–500 dev

1.3 Google Business Profile Optimisation

What: Update GBP description, photos, and event-week post capability.
Why it matters: When a delegate at RAI opens Google Maps at 17:30 and searches "restaurant near me" or "Japanese restaurant Amsterdam," GBP is what determines whether Michiu appears. Current state: does not rank on page one for RAI proximity queries.
Changes needed:

• Description: add "5 minutes from RAI Amsterdam — group bookings and exclusive restaurant hire for corporate events during IBC, Money20/20, Provada, and other RAI congress weeks"
• Photos: add 5–10 interior shots (full dining room, table settings, food) optimised for group dining
• Attributes: ensure "Good for groups" and "Reservations" are marked
• Phone number: clearly visible and staffed during event weeks
• Q&A: seed with "Do you take large group bookings?" → answer with exclusive hire option Owner: Sun / Casper
  Timeline: Week 1. Can be done in 30 minutes.
  Cost: €0

1.4 i amsterdam Group Dining Listing

What: Submit Michiu to i amsterdam's private/group dining directory (iamsterdam.com/en/conventions).
Why it matters: i amsterdam is the first result for international visitors Googling "group dining Amsterdam." Convention delegates specifically reference it. Free listing, one-time submission.
Owner: Sun / Casper
Timeline: Week 1–2.
Cost: €0

1.5 Cvent Free Tier Listing

What: Create a free Cvent venue profile for Michiu.
Why it matters: Yamazato, Sazanka, Ciel Bleu, Hosokawa, Taiko, Hilton, and Apollo are all on Cvent. Event planners searching for "Amsterdam restaurant corporate dinner" on Cvent find every competitor but Michiu. Free tier closes this gap.
Owner: Sun / Casper
Timeline: Weeks 2–4.
Cost: €0 (free tier). Featured tier (~€1,500–3,000/yr) optional later.

Layer 2 — Active Campaigns

2.1 LinkedIn — The Primary Pre-Arrival Channel

LinkedIn is the only platform where RAI event delegates can be reached by job title + industry + location before they arrive in Amsterdam. No competitor uses it. First-mover advantage is real and currently unclaimed.

Full details: _linkedin-rai-strategy.md (playbook) and _spend-tier-framework.md (budget by tier).

Execution summary:

Audience segments: See _linkedin-rai-strategy.md — 7 segments (A=Media, B=Fintech, C=Tech, D=Healthcare/Pharma, E=Real Estate, F=Maritime, G=Sport/Consumer).

Copy principle: For CB-1 events, copy leads with the occasion ("for your delegation," "for your KOLs"), not the restaurant. The reader already knows they need a dinner; the question is which one. For CB-2/CB-3, copy leads with discovery ("five minutes from RAI, group bookings welcome").

2.2 Penn Outreach — CB-1 Events Only

Penn direct outreach to exhibitors and speakers is reserved for CB-1 events: IBC, Money20/20, World Vaccine Congress. These are the events where the relationship lead (VP Sales, CRO, GM EMEA at a US or pharma company) has a professional obligation to book group dinners — Penn is providing a solution to a problem they have, not selling to someone who doesn't need it.

Target: Exhibitor list + speaker programme. Prioritise US-HQ companies (IBC), Israeli/UK fintech (Money20/20), and pharma C-suite (Vaccine Congress).
Template: Per individual event doc (see ibc-2026.md, money2020-europe-2026.md, world-vaccine-congress-europe-2026.md).
Timing: T-10 days before each CB-1 event.
Volume: 20–40 targeted messages per event, not bulk.

2.3 Instagram — During-Event Content

Instagram is not a pre-arrival channel for this audience (they're not following Michiu yet). It is a during-event channel — content that appears in Amsterdam location feeds and Stories while delegates are physically in the city.

Execution during each CB-1 and CB-2 event:

• Day 1 of event: post kitchen prep / dining room at setup. Tag location: Amsterdam-Zuid or RAI Amsterdam.
• Day 2–3: hero dish content. Clean, precise, no caption clutter.
• Stories: geotargeted to Amsterdam/RAI area if boosted.
• No need to name the event. Just be present in Amsterdam food content that week.

What not to do: Generic brand content during event weeks. The content needs to look like "tonight" — fresh, in-kitchen, ready. That's the visual signal that converts someone scrolling at 16:30 deciding where to eat.

2.4 Google Business Profile — Event-Week Posts

GBP posts appear directly in Google Maps results and are visible to anyone searching near RAI during the event. High visibility, zero cost, consistently underused by all competitors.

Template per event:
"[Event name] is at RAI this week. We're 5 minutes away — group bookings welcome for your team or client dinner. Cantonese-Japanese. Book via [link] or call [phone]."
Post at T-7 and Day 1 of each primary-tier event.

Owner: Sun / Zuck
Cost: €0

2.5 Google Ads — Event-Week Search (CB-1 + CB-2 only)

Paid search for terms like "restaurant near RAI Amsterdam," "Japanese restaurant Amsterdam-Zuid," "group dinner IBC Amsterdam" during event weeks. No competitor is bidding on these terms.

Budget: €20–40/day. Run only T-7 to last day of event. Pause outside event windows.
Geo: 5km radius from RAI.
Keywords: "restaurant near RAI Amsterdam," "corporate dinner Amsterdam RAI," "Japanese restaurant Amsterdam-Zuid," "group dinner Amsterdam," "IBC dinner Amsterdam" (event-specific).
Landing page: michiu.nl/events (infrastructure item 1.2 above — this must exist first).
Cost: ~€800–1,200/year across CB-1 and CB-2 events.

Layer 3 — The Flywheel

3.1 Review Cultivation After Event Bookings

Google Maps ranking in proximity searches is driven by review volume and recency, not just star rating. Michiu needs more reviews, specifically mentioning RAI and corporate events, to rank for walk-out searches.

Execution: After any group booking during a RAI event week, send a WhatsApp message 2 days later:
"Hi [Name], really glad you and your team could join us during [Event] week. If you have a moment, a Google review would mean a lot to us — and helps future conference visitors find us. [link]"

This generates reviews that contain the words "IBC," "conference," "RAI," "team dinner" — exactly the keywords that surface Michiu for the next IBC visitor searching Google Maps.

3.2 The Return Visit Loop

A US media executive who books Michiu for their IBC Monday team dinner is a potential return customer at every IBC, forever. The first booking is the acquisition cost. Year 2 and 3 are nearly free.

Execution:

• When a group booking is made during an event week, note the company and event in the reservation system.
• 8 weeks before the next edition of that event, Sun or Penn sends a personal note: "IBC is coming up again — I wanted to make sure we were on your radar early this year. Same week works well for us. Happy to hold dates."
• This is not a marketing campaign. It is a relationship call.

3.3 The Referral Chain

US executives who enjoyed Michiu during IBC tell their colleagues at the same company. Those colleagues attend IBC the following year with a recommendation already in hand. The acquisition cost of that booking is zero.

To activate the referral chain: the dinner has to be good enough that people talk about it. That is a kitchen and service question, not a marketing question. But the marketing can nudge it: a brief handwritten note at the end of a group dinner ("it was a pleasure hosting your team this IBC week") costs nothing and increases the probability of a colleague mention.

Priority Order — 90-Day Execution Plan

Weeks 1–2: Foundation (before everything else)

Weeks 3–6: Active channels go live

Week 6–IBC (Jun → Sep 11): Iterate and refine

IBC week (Sep 11–15): Full activation — all channels live

Budget Summary

ROI check: One IBC group dinner (12 people, €100/head) = €1,200 revenue. IBC historically already delivers multiple group bookings per week without any of this marketing. The entire annual budget recovers in 4–5 incremental bookings — any CB-1 or CB-2 booking that wouldn't have happened without the campaign.

What Success Looks Like — 12 Months

By IBC 2026 (Sep):

• Michiu is on the RAI organiser portal
• michiu.nl/events page is live and ranking for RAI proximity searches
• LinkedIn campaigns have run for at least 3 events (Money20/20, Provada, HLTH)
• Penn has sent first InMail batch; at least 1–2 responses
• Google Maps ranking has improved for "restaurant near RAI Amsterdam"

By end of 2026:

• IBC group bookings tracked (baseline established for 2027 comparison)
• ISPO week (Michiu's largest new-audience acquisition event) fully activated
• Vaccine Congress week (pharma CB-1) fully activated
• At least 10 new Google reviews mentioning RAI / IBC / corporate dinner
• 1–2 return bookings from groups who first came through a LinkedIn-sourced channel

By mid-2027 (before Nobu opens):

• Michiu is the named recommendation for at least 2–3 regular IBC-attending companies
• Google Maps: top 3 for "restaurant near RAI Amsterdam"
• RAI portal listing is live and generating inbound
• First return-booker from 2026 IBC has rebooked for 2027 IBC

What Not to Do

Don't try to compete on proximity. Scheldestraat will always be closer. Win upstream instead.

Don't spray budget across all 19 events equally. IBC, Money20/20, and World Vaccine Congress are CB-1. They get 2.5× the base budget. Spreading budget evenly means underspending on the events that actually convert.

Don't wait for the website page before launching LinkedIn. The campaigns can run before michiu.nl/events exists — but the events page must be live before Google Ads launch (no landing page = wasted budget).

Don't ignore the RAI portal. It takes one email and costs nothing. It is the single highest-ROI action in this entire plan.

Don't treat Instagram as a brand channel during event weeks. During IBC or Money20/20, Instagram must be in-the-moment content — kitchen tonight, dining room tonight. Not brand storytelling.

Don't outsource the Penn outreach to a template blast. 20 targeted, personalised InMails outperform 200 generic ones. Penn is a precision tool.