"Black Caviar" Effect: Why Businesses Order Banquets and End Up Choosing Water and Lavash
23.06.2026,
10:14
Imagine this: A client arrives at a restaurant.
YEREVAN, June 23. /ARKA/. Imagine this: A client arrives at a restaurant.
They say they're planning an important event. They request that the dining room be completely closed. They're interested in the best dishes. They inquire about black caviar, truffles, and rare wines. They ask for photos of the table setting. They inquire about the possibility of organizing a red carpet, live music, and a performance by a famous artist. And all of this, preferably, tomorrow.
The restaurant opens.
Managers discuss the concept, the chef develops the menu, calculates the ingredients, brings in contractors, and reserves dates.
The client is in a hurry:
"We need a budget urgently."
"Today. Tomorrow morning at the latest."
The next day, the restaurant presents an estimate.
Then the client announces:
"We've changed our minds."
"We don't need to close the dining room."
"We don't need a red carpet."
"We don't need music."
"For food, leave water and lavash, and preferably the cheaper kind."
In the restaurant business, this approach would seem, to put it mildly, strange.
But in the media, it's common.
Clients request large-scale communications campaigns, special projects, interviews, video production, integrations, analytics, promotion, and dozens of additional options. As a result, such requests increasingly result in radical revisions: by the end, we end up with a significant reduction in the initial budget.
But editorial teams, marketers, producers, and managers spend time developing concepts, calculating scripts, and preparing proposals. How do they feel when it turns out the real need was completely different?
The problem isn't that the client decided to cut the budget. That's their right.
The problem is that many still perceive the preparation of a commercial proposal as a free resource.
But behind every proposal are people's working hours, expertise, internal discussions, and time that could have been spent on ongoing projects and real clients.
Good business relationships begin with mutual respect.
Respect for others' time is not a matter of etiquette. It's the first sign that a partnership is even possible.
Therefore, the most professional approach is to first honestly define the task, goals, and realistic budget possibilities, and only then order truffles, caviar, and the red carpet.
Because a business partnership doesn't start with a budget or a contract; it starts with respect.
And respect is best demonstrated by not forcing others to prepare a banquet if all that's needed is a glass of water and a piece of bread.
Konstantin Petrovsov
Director of the ARKA News Agency
They say they're planning an important event. They request that the dining room be completely closed. They're interested in the best dishes. They inquire about black caviar, truffles, and rare wines. They ask for photos of the table setting. They inquire about the possibility of organizing a red carpet, live music, and a performance by a famous artist. And all of this, preferably, tomorrow.
The restaurant opens.
Managers discuss the concept, the chef develops the menu, calculates the ingredients, brings in contractors, and reserves dates.
The client is in a hurry:
"We need a budget urgently."
"Today. Tomorrow morning at the latest."
The next day, the restaurant presents an estimate.
Then the client announces:
"We've changed our minds."
"We don't need to close the dining room."
"We don't need a red carpet."
"We don't need music."
"For food, leave water and lavash, and preferably the cheaper kind."
In the restaurant business, this approach would seem, to put it mildly, strange.
But in the media, it's common.
Clients request large-scale communications campaigns, special projects, interviews, video production, integrations, analytics, promotion, and dozens of additional options. As a result, such requests increasingly result in radical revisions: by the end, we end up with a significant reduction in the initial budget.
But editorial teams, marketers, producers, and managers spend time developing concepts, calculating scripts, and preparing proposals. How do they feel when it turns out the real need was completely different?
The problem isn't that the client decided to cut the budget. That's their right.
The problem is that many still perceive the preparation of a commercial proposal as a free resource.
But behind every proposal are people's working hours, expertise, internal discussions, and time that could have been spent on ongoing projects and real clients.
Good business relationships begin with mutual respect.
Respect for others' time is not a matter of etiquette. It's the first sign that a partnership is even possible.
Therefore, the most professional approach is to first honestly define the task, goals, and realistic budget possibilities, and only then order truffles, caviar, and the red carpet.
Because a business partnership doesn't start with a budget or a contract; it starts with respect.
And respect is best demonstrated by not forcing others to prepare a banquet if all that's needed is a glass of water and a piece of bread.
Konstantin Petrovsov
Director of the ARKA News Agency
