Case Study
Events Operations and Marketing project for a village Pub near Oxford
About the Client
A village Pub near Oxford, mid-expansion, looking to increase their visibility and profit as an Events space.
They wanted to get a better return on investment for their new function space, but they had missed their relaunch opportunity, and they were unclear on how to market effectively in the local area. They feared they will have to resort to large discounts to do so.
Even simpler than that, they wanted to see footfall increase so they could trust in the scaling model they’d already started.
The hurdles & the brief
The Pub had closed their doors for a 3 month renovation January-March, and unfortunately the re-opening was not the re-launch marketing boost they had hoped for.
They’d spent these 3 months investing in a beautiful newly built function space, but event bookings were stagnating and profit margins were not optimised.
With an additional tap room build well underway, they needed to see a strong return on their January investment, and build stronger connections with Local Authorities and Tourist organisations, to strengthen the events offer.
Why did they come to us?
The Client recognised that they have missed the opportunity to create a marketing buzz around the re-opening, but now (2 months later), still needed to highlight their new events space, and effect more function bookings. Offering discounts felt like a last resort to achieve this, and the Client needed reassurance and support to build an offer that aligned with their new shape.
They needed to see a fiscal impact from the changes they had made to the events space; they needed a stronger understanding of this area of the business, how to drive revenue, and to get the most out of what was already booked - they wanted to feel in control of it, not reacting to it.
They wanted:
an events calendar function for the pub website, with full branding and ease in management and updates
increased footfall to the pub and to promote the renovations and reopening
to promote their new event spaces and increase bookings and revenue, to improve ROI on their renovations.
Services offered:
Events & Marketing Audit + 2 day on-site intensive
Project timeline: 2 weeks
Summary of deliverables:
Events SOP - profit margins increased, workflow and roles clarified, ease of booking new business, ease of handover
Local magazine full page paid ad designed, ready to publish in under 7 days
Public calendar function created on the website, and standardised for easy management in future (key for Council requirements and relations)
Bespoke one-on-one training with the key staff and management
Physical loyalty card & brand logo stamp designed, printed, and ordered, for use by staff on site.
PMS system updated with the loyalty offer, with trackable reporting
Events process implemented, and back dated
Audit & report on missing events data
5 point Action plan on events growth for future
Our process
We spent an initial day on site with the Owner, General Manager and Events Manager. Taking turns hearing about the exciting changes to the business (and being shown around the new functions space), and the challenges each department was experiencing. We also heard from the Owner about the importance of good relations with the Local Authority (Council), and very specific requirements for the Pub’s event marketing, to ensure continuing event permits.
Having heard the Pub’s main objectives, we identified the key bottlenecks, and then took actions needed to achieve them.
Key bottlenecks:
Missed reopening buzz - fear they had caused the slow footfall
Stagnating events revenue due to low profit margins and weak processes
Lack of local awareness on their offering, and Local Authority’s expectations for marketing holding back scrappy efforts
We then proposed and delivered a 2-day on-site intensive, which included action-taking from us to directly address the bottlenecks, as well as one-to-one training with the marketing, events and management teams on new systems and SOPs.
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developed a loyalty programme that was cost effective & brand appropriate, uses the PMS systems already in place, ensuring trackable data on its efficacy, with an SOP that can be handed out to staff to ensure ease of implementation and training.
designed and printed physical loyalty cards to be handed out to locals to increase repeat custom and brand visibility
designed an on-brand full-page advertisement for the local village newspaper, showcasing the new function space, the changes in the kitchen, and promoting the loyalty scheme
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carried out a bespoke one-on-one training with the events team
Upgraded the events SOP, and migrated all previous events data over to the new system
An Action Report of the missing events data
A Recommendations Report on ways to chase events revenue in their local area
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built a public website events calendar, to give due notice to council about upcoming events (with finish time and details like live band denoted).
built easy internal templates for the team to publish new events, also giving the public an easy way to be aware of events and click through to buy tickets easily.
carried out a bespoke one-on-one training with the marketing team (and the GM)
Impact of the project & client results
The Pub has been able to increase footfall from the local area and increase their brand visibility, thanks to a physical asset like a loyalty card, they are continuously in people’s wallets and on their minds. The events space is getting more attention, with more ease of booking and streamlined advertisement to the right local demographic.
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Creating a public calendar on the website ensured that the Pub is compliant with the Council’s requirements for event bookings and live music rules. This enables smoother local relations, and better collaboration in the future (and reduced stress for Senior Management)
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Creating a public calendar on the website also allowed the public to view the Pub’s events with enough notice to plan to attend, and inspire them to potentially book themselves (a call to action and instructions to book your own event are now included on event listings as standard)
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An audit and redesign of the Events process meant that a healthy profit margin is now ensured, and a room hire and minimum spend practices introduced as standard. Cancellation and deposit protocols also introduced, ensuring no time-wasters, and ease of staffing.
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Growth in confidence for the Events Manager, and clear training on marketing practices and outreach (like connecting with local tourist attractions), is allowing the Pub to be proactive about driving bookings. It also means more independence and responsibility for the Events Manager himself, therefore spreading the marketing effort fairly across the Senior Management Team.
“This makes so much more sense, and lets me forecast and increase my revenue much easier!”