You can spot it pretty quickly: a polished graphic that could have been made for just about anyone, anywhere. Maybe it started as a premade Canva template or a digital download from Etsy. Maybe it’s the 2026 version: AI-generated slop.
Either way, something is missing. It might look fine, but it doesn’t feel like the people or place behind the message. And when that message or organization is grounded in Hawaiʻi, the result can feel sterile, stripped of the heart and connection that make the moʻolelo worth telling in the first place.
That doesn’t mean every template is bad or every AI tool is useless. It means the tool can’t do the most important work for you: understanding what you’re trying to say, who you’re saying it to, and why it matters here.
There’s more beneath the surface
To tell aspects of Hawaiʻi’s story well, you need to understand its history, culture, language, and way of life. Without that connection, it’s easy for a message to stay on the surface, or to borrow the look of Hawaiʻi without understanding what gives it meaning.
There’s a Hawaiian term, kaona, that speaks to hidden or layered meaning in a word or phrase. I think of it as a reminder to look deeper. There are layers of kaona everywhere in Hawaiʻi if you know where to look: in the words we choose, the places we name, and the stories we carry.
For a small business, that might mean looking beyond a catchy tagline or a lei motif. What does your business mean to the people who come through your door? What relationships have helped shape it? What details would someone from your community recognize that an outsider might miss?
You don’t need a massive marketing budget to begin answering those questions. But you do need to slow down long enough to ask them.
Discover the real story
A template can be a starting point. AI can help you explore an idea. But neither should be the thing that decides what your story is.
The businesses and communities of Hawaiʻi aren’t interchangeable. Their stories shouldn’t be either. Start with the people, the place, and the meaning. Then choose the tools that help you tell that story with care.