Where Everybody Knows Your Name
More than banks, more than clothing stores, possibly even more than grocery stores, bars and restaurants surround their customers with logos and branding of all kinds. Glassware, napkins, menus, in-store and outside signage, beer taps, apparel and even buttons and lanyards are all put to use in grabbing patrons attention and getting them to acknowledge a logo for a few moments. Additionally, some bars or restaurants will be full of branding for other institutions, such as beer companies on bar coasters or the local ads on a diner place mat.
With so much logo placement taking place, it might be a safe assumption that the bar and restaurant market is a good one for promotional marketers. With that in mind, Promo Marketing spoke with Todd Lukas, operating partner for the Marlton, New Jersey-based Champps sports bar to get some end-buyer and end-user insight into the market.
Items Bars Want
At a sports bar, receiving promotional items is sometimes just as important as purchasing them. In fact, Lukas stated that most promotional items are given to him by vendors, and not purchased by the bar itself. "Mostly the promotional products come from vendors who want to promote their own brand," he said. "What that does is set up a relationship between my business and theirs. … If a close working partner comes to me to promote their brand and I trust them through past dealings then I usually will be willing to give their product a shot."
Lukas shared some of his preferences for product. "As an operator, we like to see support mostly in the means of glassware and coasters," he said, explaining that such items can be a huge help with cost-control. "For instance, on Thursday night we do Pint Night. I have 51 different draft beer selections, all available for $2.50 each. I sell about 1,500 pints a night," he said. "The more we can get from vendors, the more it helps keep costs down on an item that can become very costly."
Not all items are as successful, however. Some products just aren't as successful in a sports bar environment. "At times some of the handout promotional items like keychains, lanyards, etc., can just cause clutter and the guests usually don't find much interest in them," said Lukas.
Items Bars Buy
Of course branding in sports bars like Champps isn't just limited to outside companies trying to reach the bar's customers. The restaurant itself is trying to get its logo in front of patrons, just as its vendors are. Lukas mentioned several of the items Champps uses, again touching on the issue of cost.
"We used to play heavily into apparel but have cut back on that, again due to commodity costs from wholesalers rising so sharply over the past several years," he said. "We do coasters, but again, I'd prefer to have them dropped by a vendor to stave costs. Coasters can become a very costly item to print and maintain pace with business flow."
Eli Elbers, business development manager for Katz Americas, Johnson City, Tenn., provided an interesting suggestion for selling coasters to a client who might be wary of cost.
"This is actually one of the easiest obstacles to overcome when selling coasters," he said. "Yes, it is nice to receive free coasters from a brewery (or wherever they are coming from), but what the bar or restaurant owners have to understand is that advertising a beer does not advertise their establishment." Elbers suggested designing a coaster that uses ad copy to better serve the bar, something promoting a dinner special on one side and list of scheduled events on the other. "I am sure we all want to cut our budget in some way, but seeing an increase in profit because of an effective advertising campaign is certainly worth it." He also noted that showing coasters a little flashier than the average pulp board, such as those with foil-stamped or scratch-off designs, may be helpful in grabbing a client's interest. "People love seeing something new," he said.
- Companies:
- Katz Americas