Marketing in tough conditions

Nightclub marketing in the downturn!

By John Hicks of Headline Promotions, Press & PR

In these dire economic times with despondency over the credit crunch, lower spends per head and job losses it would be easy for nightclubs, bars, live music venues and restaurants to lose their way with marketing and promotions. It is too easy think to think that competitive edge can be gained by simply running a giveaway promotion, sticking some ads in the newspapers and shoving up some posters.

No, this is the time to be creative. Yes, it is so competitive out there right now and margins are tight so give your business the edge by sitting your team down and brainstorming ideas.

Firstly, think about gaining some press coverage. Why not organise a party for the local Childrens' ward at the hospital (a little late now but worth thinking about, I have had huge coverage in the past with this), run a joint promotion with the local cinema, offer the newspaper and radio station a voucher or competition prize, issue a press release about a new menu, run a contrived let evening such as Hairdresser of the Year, run a mid-week charity night with a local band (they bring followers!) etc etc.

Secondly, get some flyers printed (there are some great deals out there for printing at the moment) and get some attractive, smart and branded staff out in the town handing them out. Get them to hit your target audience with the flyers and chat to people about what you are offering.

Thirdly, build upon your existing networking contacts. Give them a call or pop in to see them - check if they have any last minute Christmas leaving parties they want hosting. See if they want to do any joint promotions or competitions together. For service industries and retailers working through December, invite them into a special Christmas Party in January. This is what you should have been doing all year so don't stop now!

Finally, look at your budgets. Can you squeeze out some money for a celebrity personal appearance. It's late but can be done (if you are stuck for contacts this late you are welcome to drop me an e-mail at john@headlinepromotions.co.uk as I may be able to help).

Please do not forget to think about the customer experience when you are successful in getting the customer in the door. At the very least you want to hang onto them for as long as possible and not encourage them to wander off to another venue. At best, you want them to be unpaid ambassadors going out telling people what a great place you have! Double check that your staff are looking their very best and in good spirit. Check your Christmas decorations are clean and look fresh even though they have been up a while. Double check your maintenance list is sorted. Check your stock to make sure you are not going to run out of product or toilet rolls. Check your DJ's are fired up, looking great and playing the right party music. Check your menus are spotlessly clean. Check your kitchen is spotlessly clean despite the pressure from busy trading sessions. Again, this is what you do normally - but can be put aside when we get stuck into the busy festive season.

I will not wish you good luck. We make our own luck! But, I do wish you a great Christmas and New Year.

Valuing the time spent on social networking sites

Popular social networking sites, including the giants of these, MySpace and Facebook, have undoubtedly changed the human fabric of the Internet.

Largely the domain of a predominantly youthful user base, they are also well supported by older users. There is also a firm base of professionals using it for business purposes also - from advertising to networking.

You will know the names: LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Next2Friends, FastPitch, Ecademy, Photobucket as well as the plethora of blogging and photo sharing sites.

Time is precious to everyone, none more so than to a small business owner like me. Over the past few years I have joined many, often following an invitation by a friend, colleague or business acquaintance.

The trouble is that I now find that I do not have the time to use them to full advantage and my inbox is inundated every day, especially as those creative geniuses at Facebook devise ever increasingly obscure ways to persuade members to spend time not only theirs but, by spreading the web, encouraging me to spend my time too.

This week alone, I received two more invitations to join new social networking sites! So, I have decided to cull my memberships of these sites. It was an interesting exercise so I would like to share this experience with you.

My interests divide into four key areas: business (networking and blogging), personal and music (live music being my passion).

Music was easy. Of all the memberships I have, MySpace is the most dynamic and user-friendly. I have maintained old relationships and made lots of new ones through MySpace and, especially as I rarely get e-mails from them, I am keeping my page (www.myspace.com/headlinepromotions).

Business more difficult to weed out. Of all the networking sites I belong to for networking, only one has actually generated any business contacts - either suppliers or customers. That is WeCanDoBiz (http://www.wecando.biz/). I do like this site and it has proved successful business-wise. It was very simple to register and is free.

Blogging was not an issue. Blogger dotcom (hhtp://www.blogger.com) is no useful and so easy to understand that I would not for one moment consider changing. Some of my blogs are well read (such as my Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations blog site: www.headlinepromotions.blogspot.com) so that speaks for itself. Others are actually the website content for my domains (e.g. my world record attempt resource http://www.worldrecordattempt.co.uk/) so are effectively free hosting sites and, because of their ease of use, avoid the employment of webmasters to maintain them!

For personal contacts, because of the sheer number of contacts I have on there, I have to remain with Facebook, annoying though that is. It is peoples’ obsession with inviting me to play bingo, or poker or hangman that cheeses me off. Just recently, spammers have got in there and I now receive misspelled invitations to see myself on friends videos; clicking on the link reveals that it is spam with viruses so I hope that Facebook take urgent action to stop this. I am aware that I can reduce the volume of daily e-mails by changing some of my notification options and I am going to do this very shortly to ease the burden on my inbox!

I did actually look at Facebook for advertising but the sheer volume of targets and the time it took to try and work out what and how to maximise the impact of any campaign outweighed any advantage over my existing and effective PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns on Google. For nightclubs, bars and restaurants it is true that the ability to able to communicate with a number of customers holds particular appeal - but I think you are the only sector to have taken advantage of this, and I am not sure there are many other sectors which Facebook can help in this way.

Somewhere in between business and pleasure is a relatively new social networking platform called Next2Friends. I have not yet fully grasped the full potential of this site either for business or pleasure but I am sure it is huge.

I have created a corporate page for Headline Promotions, Press & PR and am working my way through the site to try and grasp how I can use it best. But the ability to video events (whether business or personal) and share them in real time or as video for later access by people I choose to allow, is enormous.

Take, for example, Sunset Lingerie (http://www.sunsetlingerie.co.uk/) for whom I am organising a fashion show. I could video that on my mobile phone and it will appear in real time on Next2Friends and be retained for people to see later. I could, in fact, have it showing live on their website or mine. Similarly, if one of my world record attempts is taking place, then I can show that live or recorded. This is something I definitely wish to explore further.

So, will it save time? I think it will. This means I can focus my attention on the sites I have chosen to continue to support to my advantage and theirs!

PLEASE REDIRECT TO OUR NEW WEBSITE

This blog was the original foundation of the Nightclub Marketing resource service, now visited by up to a thousand people a week.

To improve our service, we launched our new-look website in July 2008 and we would love to see you there at

www.nightclubmarketing.co.uk

sponsored by luxury lingerie on-line retailer

SUNSET LINGERIE

www.sunsetlingerie.co.uk

whose nightclub and bar celebrity launch parties are legendary!

Nightclub Marketing is a resource from Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations

http://www.headlinepromotions.co.uk/

Nightclub marketing and promotions get helping hand

PRESS RELEASE
26th June 2008
Basingstoke, England

Nightclub marketing and promotions get helping hand

Nightclubs, late night bars and restaurants, cue sports bars and live music venues are all facing a difficult time as the UK economy falters.

Basingstoke Public Relations consultant, John Hicks of Headline Promotions, Press & PR (http://www.headlinepromotions.co.uk/), deals with this particular sector and is confident that effective marketing and promotions will enable them to keep their head above water until times get better.

Back in 1969, John established an on-line resource site for owners, operators and managers in the hospitality and entertainment industry. This offers advice and information about all aspects of the business sector, from marketing through to the use of celebrities for special events.

John’s background is that he has worked in public relations, marketing and promotions for many years, across many sectors. He specialises, however, in the leisure, internet radio broadcasting, hospitality and entertainment sectors.

He formerly operated a busy 750 capacity 24/7 snooker and pool hall, Chinese restaurant, sports bars and live music venue in the south of England - in addition to previously being a national promotions manager for a division of Europe's leading late night venue operator and a promotions manager for a global drinks manufacturer.

Now, John has re-launched the Nightclub Marketing website with a new-look design, in the format of a book with chapters on specific topics including new developments such as “running your own radio station”.

The re-launch coincides with the introduction of his new Mentoring Scheme.

The mentoring programme, allows for a venue management team to have in-depth support from John for a week. During that time, they will work together to devise a SWOT and competitor analysis, a marketing and PR programme, training needs analysis and a customer relations strategy.

After the week, John will remain available for telephone support for a period year for the management team. This transfer of knowledge will enable the team to manage their own destiny and help prepare newer staff for future management roles.

Of course, effective marketing and promotions will not ensure business success on their own. They have to accompany high standards of customer care and service. The new website and John’s unique mentoring service will give them the edge however.

Further details can be found on John’s re-launched website http://www.nightclubmarketing.co.uk/

ENDS


Further information can be obtained from:
John Hicks
Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations
Basingstoke, England
john@headlinepromotions.co.uk
Mobile: 07771 575 654

You can read John’s occasional blog at: http://www.headlinepromotions.blogspot.com/


John has worked in public relations, marketing and promotions for many years, across many sectors. He specialises, however, in the leisure, local radio broadcasting, manufacturing and entertainment sectors. He formerly operated a busy 750 capacity 24/7 snooker and pool hall, Chinese restaurant, sports bars and live music venue in the south of England - in addition to previously being a national promotions manager for a division of Europe's leading late night venue operator and promotions manager for a global drinks manufacturer.
John also writes for several UK and US newspapers and blog sites as well as having contributed to a number of published works. He has also acted as an occasional advisor to City funds and investment banks with interests in the UK leisure sector.
His principal business is Managing Director of Headline Promotions, Press & PR but he is also heavily involved in internet radio, a performer management agency and leisure property development. Not much time then for his passion for live music!


Keywords: nightclub marketing, late night bars promotion, John Hicks, advertising restaurants, promoting cue sports clubs and live music venues, internet radio stations, mentoring for nightclub managers, Headline Promotions

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