How Fleming’s Captured Record Valentine’s Day Reservations

THE Challenge

Valentine’s Day is a natural fit for the Fleming’s brand—elevated dining, intimate atmosphere and memorable experiences. But guests have high expectations, competitors push aggressive offers and the booking window is short. Fleming’s needed a multichannel strategy that captured its essence across every touchpoint while delivering measurable ROI.

THE Solution

Acquired Taste designed a Valentine’s Day campaign that unified creative, media and messaging under one cohesive story of romance and exclusivity. The strategy focused on elevating emotional relevance while ensuring consistency across every guest touchpoint. Key elements included:

• Creative Strategy: Romance-forward storytelling paired with premium food and wine imagery reinforced Fleming’s positioning as the ultimate Valentine’s destination. Consistent visuals and messaging emphasized intimacy, indulgence and celebration.
• Channel Optimization: Paid media was streamlined to prioritize efficiency, with refreshed creative mid-flight to maintain momentum. Google Search campaigns were simplified to deliver one clear message per ad group.
• Tier-Based Budgeting: Markets were segmented into four tiers based on performance and readiness, allowing the campaign to maximize ROI while scaling support where it mattered most.
• Audience Segmentation: New guest acquisition was prioritized, with retargeting layered in to convert interest among past diners. This ensured growth without overreliance on loyalty audiences.
• Email Marketing: Deployments followed a launch → reminder → last-chance cadence, aligning to the natural booking curve. Creative mirrored paid media to reinforce consistency and build urgency.

THE Results

The 2025 Valentine’s Day campaign set a new benchmark for fine dining holiday marketing. Fleming’s not only achieved record-setting reservations but also strengthened long-term guest engagement and ROI. Post-campaign results demonstrated the impact of a unified, emotionally resonant strategy:

• Record Reservations: Reservation starts increased by 57% year-over-year, making 2025 Fleming’s most successful Valentine’s Day to date.
• Marketing ROI: The campaign delivered a 4.91 ROI on Meta and a 2.08 overall ROI, proving the value of a multichannel approach.
• Guest Engagement: Email played a critical role, averaging more than 13% open rates and nearly doubling click-through engagement compared to 2023.
• Revenue Growth: Gift card sales also climbed, extending the impact of the campaign beyond the holiday window.

THE Details

Strategy Alignment

By leading with emotion instead of price, the campaign reinforced Fleming’s positioning as a destination for elevated, personal experiences.

Integrated Execution

Every channel—search, social, display and email—was unified under one clear story of romance and exclusivity.

Operational Impact

Tier-based budgeting empowered location-level flexibility while maximizing overall ROI.

Data-Driven Optimization

Real-time adjustments to creative and spend ensured momentum throughout the short Valentine’s booking cycle.

Why It Matters

For fine dining brands, holidays like Valentine’s Day set the stage for both brand storytelling and long-term guest growth. The Fleming’s and Acquired Taste partnership became a Valentine’s Day playbook to remember, proving that the right mix of creative, strategy and execution can deliver record-setting ROI.