Start here
Welcome to the Darling Group Marketing Hub. This page is your map.
This is the marketing team's home base: campaigns, the content calendar, the weekly board, the Instagram inbox, brand guides and ad performance, all in one place. Have a read through, then dive into any section from the left.
Your first week
A quick checklist to get set up.
Get your access. Your Darling Google account, Deputy, Slack, the Marketing Dropbox, Planable, this portal and the menu portal. Ask Chris or Keelie if anything's missing.
Learn the brands. Read this page, then spend time in the Brand Hub to get each venue's look and voice.
Join the team's day. Get added to the Board, introduce yourself, and ask plenty of questions.
Watch how we work. Sit in Planable and the Inbox to see how we schedule posts and answer DMs.
What's in the hub
Eight sections. Here's what each one is for.
Dashboard
Your daily snapshot: active campaigns, what's coming up, and what's on the board.
Calendar
The marketing calendar: launches, seasonal moments and key dates across every venue.
Campaigns
Every campaign we're running or planning, with its objective and the venues it's for.
Board
What each person is working on this week, and whether it's on track. Keep your own status current.
Inbox
Instagram DMs with a suggested reply ready to review. Edit, then Approve & send or copy into Planable.
Ad Performance
How our Meta ads are tracking. Spend, reach and results (admin access).
Brand Hub
A living brand guide for each venue: colours, fonts, logos and voice. Use it for everything.
Competitors
The venues we keep an eye on, and what they're currently promoting.
How we work
The weekly rhythm, in four habits.
Plan weekly. Content and campaigns are mapped to the marketing calendar, so everyone can see what's landing and when.
Work the board. Your tasks for the week live on the Board. Keep your status current so the team can see what's on track.
Answer fast. Check the Inbox daily. Review the suggested reply, make it sound right, and send. Anything sensitive goes to Chris.
Stay on brand. Pull colours, fonts and the right voice from the Brand Hub for every post, menu and reply.
Who looks after which venue
Each venue's social and DMs have an owner who reviews and approves.
Chris · Luke from 9 Nov
Hero venues
Token · Higher Ground · The Observatory · The Terrace
Keelie
Neighbourhood venues
The Kettle Black · Top Paddock · Darling · Dundas & Faussett · Bambu · Chéri · Stringers
Chris
Group & events
Darling Group (main) · The Terrace Events
The accounts we run
Instagram → a profile for each of the 11 venues, plus Darling Group and The Terrace Events (13 in all).
TikTok → Darling Group, The Observatory and Chéri.
Whoever runs a venue's Instagram also runs its TikTok. The Darling Group TikTok is everyone's for now. Reel content made for a venue can be reused on TikTok, lightly adjusted to suit.
Our venues
Eleven venues across Melbourne. Most sit close together around South Yarra, the Botanic Gardens and South Melbourne; Stringers is down on the coast.
Token
South Yarra
151 Toorak Rd, South Yarra
@token_au
Darling
South Yarra
2 Darling St, South Yarra
@darlingcafe
The Terrace
Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, South Yarra
@theterracebotanicgardens
The Observatory
Botanic Gardens
100 Birdwood Ave, Melbourne
@theobservatory.melb
Top Paddock
Richmond
658 Church St, Richmond
@toppaddock
Higher Ground
CBD
650 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
@highergroundmelbourne
The Kettle Black
South Melbourne
50 Albert Rd, South Melbourne
@kettleblackcafe
Bambu
South Melbourne
92/116 Cecil St, South Melbourne
@eatbambu
Chéri
South Melbourne
285-287 Coventry St, South Melbourne
@cherieatery
Dundas & Faussett
Albert Park
111 Dundas Place, Albert Park
@dundasandfaussett
Stringers
Sorrento
2-8 Ocean Beach Rd, Sorrento
@stringerssorrento
Answering a DM
From message to sent, in four steps.
A message arrives in the Inbox with a suggested reply already drafted.
Review and edit it so it sounds like us and answers the question.
Approve & send straight from the hub, or Copy reply and send it in Planable.
Complaints, refunds, press, collabs and large-group enquiries are flagged and routed to Chris. Never quote terms or promise availability you can't confirm.
Tools & good to know
Planable · scheduling + social inbox
Dropbox · photography & video storage
SevenRooms · bookings
This hub · campaigns, calendar, board, brand
All photography and video must be uploaded to Dropbox, in the right venue's folder, so the whole team can find and use it. Nothing should live only on a phone or a laptop.
House style: every venue has its own voice (see the Brand Hub). Across all of them: no em dashes, Australian spelling, and prices without trailing zeros ($7.5, not $7.50). When in doubt about a fact (hours, prices, availability), check before you send, never guess.
Key links
The tools and places you'll use most.
Where things live
A quick map of where to find things, and where to put them.
Photography, video & campaign content → the Marketing Dropbox, in each venue's folder. Shoot files and campaign assets live here.
Brand (logos, fonts, colours, voice) → the Brand Hub in this portal, a guide per venue. That's the source of truth.
Menus → the menu portal: every live and past menu in one place. If you change a special or a menu, it's your job to update it there.
Booking a shoot
Photo and video shoots, from request to delivered assets.
Brief it. Write a short brief: the venue, what we're shooting (food, drinks, space, event), the date, and where it'll be used (campaign, menu, socials).
Line up the day, and send the calendar invite. Confirm the date with the Venue Manager and the food and drinks with the kitchen. The calendar invite must go to all marketing team members, Riley Moore, Chris Mitchell, Ash Hicks and any relevant venue staff.
Shoot it, mostly in-house. We shoot and film ourselves wherever we can. Only bring in a third-party photographer or videographer when it's genuinely needed and approved by Chris.
Upload. Files go to that venue's photography and video folder in the Marketing Dropbox, in a folder named by date and shoot.
Edit and select. Cut the selects and edit them ready to use.
Publish. Load the content into Planable for approval and scheduling, and mark the job done on the Board.
Other things you'll do
The common jobs and where they go.
Content or asset request. Need a graphic, an edit or an asset? Add it to the Board with the venue, deadline and where it'll run.
Menu or special update. When a menu or special changes, update it in the menu portal, refresh the socials, and let the venue know.
New campaign. Set it up in Campaigns here in the hub (objective, venues, dates) and map the key dates to the Calendar. Keep it all in the hub.
Creators & PR. Press and collab enquiries go to Chris. We're building an influencer list to live and be maintained here in the portal, more on that soon.
What good looks like
The content principles we hold ourselves to.
Make the food and drink the hero. Shoot in natural light, get in close, keep it real and appetising.
Always look busy. Never show a venue empty or half full, it reads as quiet. Frame photos and videos so the room looks full and alive.
Sweat the details. Everything in frame should be perfect. Dirty or cluttered table? Clear it, clean it, or move to another. Marked or scruffy uniform? Don't shoot it, ask the person to change or use another staff member. Always check the background and tidy any mess before you film.
Real over staged. People, hands, movement and genuine moments beat set-up shots.
On-brand, every time. Use each venue's colours, fonts and voice from the Brand Hub. A Token post should never look like a Chéri post.
Quality over quantity. A few strong posts beat a feed of filler. If it isn't good enough, don't post it.
Write with care. Lead with the point, warm and human. No em dashes, Australian spelling, prices without trailing zeros, and skip the clichés.
Be timely. Plan around the calendar, the seasons and what's actually on at the venue, and answer DMs and comments fast.
Content approvals
Nothing goes live until it's approved.
Build it in Planable. Draft and schedule the post, reel or story in Planable, on-brand and ready to go.
Submit for approval. Send it for approval in Planable with enough lead time, not at the last minute.
Chris approves. For now, Chris reviews and approves, or requests changes, on everything in Planable, until a dedicated approver is in place.
It publishes. Once approved, Planable publishes on schedule. If changes are asked for, make them and resubmit.
Team & housekeeping
The day-to-day basics.
Deputy. Your roster, clocking in and out, and leave requests all live in Deputy. Clock in at the start of every shift and out at the end, and for your break.
Breaks & lunch. Take the break you're rostered for. Your manager will confirm your entitlement for the hours you work.
Staff discount. There's a team discount across the venues. Your manager will run you through how it works and where it applies.
Slack. Our day-to-day team chat. Get yourself added on day one.
Pay. Payroll questions go to payroll@darlinggroup.com.au.
If something goes wrong. Report any incident or injury to your manager straight away.
Presentation. Clean, tidy uniform and good presentation every shift, on and off camera.
Key contacts
Who to go to. Please don't share anyone's personal number externally. Full directory: Dropbox → Marketing / 00. Important Docs / DG Company - Contacts.
Marketing
Chris SeoudCreative Directorchris.seoud@darlinggroup.com.au
Keelie HubbardSocial Media Specialistkeelie.hubbard@darlinggroup.com.au
Luke LubuschBrand & Content Producer (from 9 Nov)luke.lubusch@darlinggroup.com.au
Culinary & Operations
Ash HicksCulinary Directorash.hicks@darlinggroup.com.au
Chris MitchellGroup Executive Chefchris.mitchell@darlinggroup.com.au
Riley MooreArea Managerriley.moore@darlinggroup.com.au
Events & Guest Services
Alexandra PhilipsSales & Events Coordinatoralex.philips@darlinggroup.com.au
Guest ServicesReservations & enquiriesguest.services@darlinggroup.com.au · 03 9088 0723
Directors
Nicholas SeoudDirectornicholas.seoud@darlinggroup.com.au
Sam SeoudDirectorsam@darlinggroup.com.au
New here? Chris leads marketing and Keelie looks after the neighbourhood venues. Ask either of us anything, especially in your first weeks.
Good morning.
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Active Campaigns
Coming up
On the board
The Board
What each person is doing this week, and whether it's on track. Keep your status current.
Marketing Calendar
Plan the year across every venue
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Campaigns
Plans, briefs and campaign direction
Ad Performance
Meta Ads — live campaign data
Brand Hub
Voice, colour, typography and strategy — for all venues
Inbox
Instagram DMs with a suggested reply ready to review. Edit it, then Approve & send to reply straight from here, or copy it into Planable. Nothing sends until you do.
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Competitors & Inspiration
What the market is doing — direct competitors and content inspiration
Watchlist
Toggle who the agent watches. Add any venue you want tracked.
Competitor activity
What watched venues are promoting right now, pulled from their What's On pages and refreshed automatically each week. Menu PDFs are copied and stored here in case their links go down.
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