Botanist Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former group general manager of a restaurant conglomerate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Botanist Creative?

We wanted to grow brand awareness and patronage to our restaurants through social media.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In each case, one of our directors and I would give Botanist Creative a brief. Their team would then create the hardware, images, videos, or whatever materials needed to fill that brief. After our review, we’d put it to market on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Botanist Creative produced 5–6 pieces of content per week for two venues.

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Zach (Founder, Botanist Creative).

How did you come to work with Botanist Creative?

We were working with Zach before he started Botanist Creative. He had been a staff member at one of the restaurants and thus understood the venue and brand already. We leveraged that to have him create social media content for us. As the group took off, however, and created more venues with different restaurant brands, it became more challenging for him to connect with an unfamiliar clientele.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $60,000–$80,000 AUD (approximately $41,000–$55,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project with Botanist Creative lasted from January 2018 to August 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Some of our results were extremely good. Botanist Creative ran a fairly basic video on Facebook of one of our dishes, and it generated over 1000 likes and comments—a breakthrough compared to most of our content that usually gains 50–100 likes. That video broke through the market, and sales of the dish skyrocketed as a result. Given the workload we gave Botanist Creative, Zach did a very good job.

How did Botanist Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Zach took feedback on board really well. However, frequently, his first go at a brief wasn’t as good as we wanted. So, he had to go back to the drawing board and start over on a few projects, which slowed down delivery. The timing of posts is vital in the restaurant industry, so I’d have to say we had mixed results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Botanist Creative’s communication was quite good. We could call the team any day of the week and at any time to ask for what we needed. Zach would always respond very quickly. His willingness to take feedback without pride or stubbornness was also a strength. Lastly, we appreciated his prices.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The ability to turn out a product that exactly matches the original brief the first time is something Botanist Creative needs to work on. If Zach can create a deliverable that matches the quality and content that people ask of him, he’ll be very successful.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear in your brief about your expectations and timeline. Then verify that Botanist Creative knows exactly what you want and that you’re both on the same page.