Well hello there... we know, it's been a while since this email has shown up in your inbox. Years, actually. Listen, we've been busy over here at Creativ. Since then, we’ve grown with several new clients, hired new team members, and continue to improve our process so we can be more creative and useful for people like you. So... it’s time. We're ready to rock and roll and bring back our MarkEATing newsletter.

In this monthly newsletter, you'll find everything from how industry trends in marketing and hospitality might affect your business to social media tips and tricks that you can employ right away. You’ll also likely get a hot take or two from me, as well as some insight into what our team is doing, what’s working well for our clients, and other cool things small business owners are doing in the Lowcountry. 

Happy reading!

I know what you’re thinking. Please no. No more advice on how to become more efficient and profitable by harnessing the power of AI to replace my entire marketing team, my accountant, my hosts that answer the phone and possibly even my servers. 

Don’t worry, this is not that. 

Not because I don’t believe in AI’s ability to help your business run more efficiently, because it can and it will. It’ll make it easier to optimize menus, streamline operations, manage labor and more… but it’ll do that for everyone. And that’s the thing. 

Instead of talking about how to leverage AI, I’d like to point out what will be even more true once you do. When everyone can run a better operation, the only thing left to compete on is how your restaurant makes people feel.

As a restaurateur, your advantage is the hospitality and unique-to-your-brand experience you provide, and the more intentional you are with that, the better positioned you’ll be.

You’ll have to buy into a few things first for this to be the case. Mainly, you’ll have to agree that people don’t go to full service restaurants just to eat food because they need food to survive. If they did, they’d DoorDash something, put in a Publix delivery order, or go to the closest quick serve place. A full-service, sit down restaurant, with servers, back of house, bars and hosts, is a physical, sensory place. It provides an experience that begins and ends with human interaction. 

This kind of interaction is increasingly rare in itself… but it’s not only that the rarer something is, the more valuable it becomes. Human interaction is baked into the experience you provide and it’s why people come. Yes, I know it’s not the only reason they come, but it’s as important as what you’re serving and rarely given as much weight. That’s interesting to me, given that understanding this emotional piece and systemizing it is critical if your full-service restaurant’s going to last. 

People don’t just go to restaurants to eat, they go to feel something. They go for community, a shared experience, to celebrate and connect with others, to be taken care of for a moment even, to feel seen. 

Those are uniquely human moments.

Acknowledging these so the guest has a great experience requires spontaneity, emotional nuance, and genuine care… and that’s when hospitality is at its best. A bartender remembering a regular’s drink. A host welcoming someone in for their birthday before they’re told. Small, unscripted decisions that make someone feel like they matter. It’s what builds repeat business, what makes guests recommend you to their friends, why they become a regular. It’s the value that creates long-term loyalty and keeps your restaurant in business. In a highly automated world, mastering your hospitality is your last differentiator. And even with AI’s support, executing that well still depends on your people and the extent to which you prioritize it.

But curating that experience consistently is difficult, especially when margins are razor thin, turnover is high and costs continue to rise. Its value also isn’t as apparent as more tangible metrics like check averages, guest counts and margins, so prioritizing that kind of hospitality is the first area that loses focus when things get kind of tight. And we know things are tight in this industry right now, especially here in Charleston. 

So, while we know you have a responsibility to prioritize your backend systems, control costs and make your operations more efficient, it’s just as important to remind you that one of your biggest opportunities is in your dining room, with your people. Those separate areas of focus don’t need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, there are ways AI can make your hospitality more systemized and impactful, but on its own, it can’t create, replicate or mass produce the feeling guests leave with when they’ve had a memorable experience that makes them want to return. And if we’re going to boil it all the way down, it doesn’t matter how consistent, efficient, and streamlined the technical aspects of your operations are if your guests don’t feel like they want to come back in the first place. 

In a world that’s increasingly artificial, the most valuable thing you can offer is something real. And nothing feels more real than being met with genuine hospitality that exceeds guest expectations. 

// MAKE IT HAPPEN

Remind staff to notice, not just serve.
Is someone on a first date? Celebrating an occasion? What can you do to make your guests feel more seen? What can you teach your team to look for and do based on the situation, even if it’s just greeting a returning guest by name each time?

Hire people who are naturally hospitable, not just experienced and capable.
Easier said than done, I know. But what if that made it easier to meet your service standards and keep you competitive in the long run?

Empower your team by encouraging small acts that don’t fit into standard operating procedures.
Simple things like a comped dessert for a birthday, or chef bringing something extra to the table because a server noticed something in conversation that might surprise and delight their guests are low cost, high value ways to make their experience even more memorable. 

SPOTLIGHT

The owner of Honeysuckle Rose noticed that a guest joining them for their tasting menu experience wasn’t finishing his courses, so she proactively did something about it. 

DETAILS
A little birdie filled us in on a cool moment of hospitality that recently occurred at Honeysuckle Rose, the eight-course tasting menu restaurant that prides itself on being one of the most unique dining experiences in Charleston. Each guest is asked about their dietary restrictions, preferences, whether they’d like still or sparkling water, are left or right handed and other details over the phone before they dine. This time, one guest took the reins on guessing all of the dietary preferences for his friends ahead of their visit during a bachelor party trip to town.

Kelleanne Jones, who owns Free Reign Restaurants with her husband, Chef Ryan Jones, noticed that one of the bachelors was barely finishing any of his dishes. After some digging, she found out he doesn't particularly enjoy seafood, which was heavily featured on the menu that night. He didn’t complain, but she had her husband deliver a freshly cooked Wagyu Burger from Southbound, their sister restaurant down the street anyway. Kelleanne plated it up and served it to the guest just like any other course from Honeysuckle Rose's kitchen.
 
WHY IS THIS COOL?
This interaction didn’t happen because there was a guest complaint. The staff noticed he clearly wasn't enjoying the dishes and rather than just continuing to serve and clear full plates for the remaining courses, they took action. It was probably inconvenient and things probably would’ve been fine either way, but their team had the awareness that something was wrong, that this was a celebratory moment that the group would remember and then they decided to exceed expectations.

Small acts like this don’t fit into standard operating procedure. While we all love a Wagyu Burger, there's little chance you'd ever see one on a typical Honeysuckle Rose tasting menu. Not only that, but the guest left full and satisfied, and the whole table of bachelors had a special experience they won’t soon forget. 

PIXEL THIS
You know how you feel when you get an email that's supposed to be serious but the font they chose to convey their words is Comic Sans and you can't put your finger on why there's a disconnect? I don't want that person to ever be you, so here's a quick design tidbit from our Creativ Director, Ashley. 

If having a uniquely human experience is what is going to set apart your business in the (very soon) future, remember that experience starts with what you put out visually in your marketing and anywhere you have a digital presence. This is setting the tone for what someone will expect to happen within your four walls. So why put your heart, soul and truckloads of money into your restaurant, event or local business, only to look the same as everyone else? 

Even though AI tools can make visual design more efficient in some ways, it is still just a tool that needs to be used in the best way. Your branding, and its ability to stand out and show people what you’re about, is more important than ever. 

The visual assets of your brand are the beginning pieces of telling your story. Don't lose it in a quick AI prompt! Fight the urge to choose convenience over intention. 

THE WORD
Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially when their use of buzzwords like these run rampant. Don't overdo it by adding these words to your daily vernacular, but now you know. 

AI Slop

Boy, are we tired of AI slop around here… We’re referring to this kind of* low-quality, mass produced digital content generated by artificial intelligence. Those menus, social graphics, and cartoon-ish photos of your Facebook friends you’re seeing so much more of lately were all generated by tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc. 

Content like this is designed to be eye-catching and fun, but it’s also often misleading, inaccurate and meaningless, which presents a bit of a problem, especially when things start looking and sounding more and more the same no matter where we look. You can probably tell we feel a certain way about all that, but I’ll leave you with this: If it’s low quality, low effort, meaningless and perceived as spammy, it’s likely not the best way for you to market and advertise your brand. 

*faces and some details in these example images covered with cute emojis as to not embarrass any local businesses trying their best. 

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