Our marketing director, Whitney Larson, hosted a seminar titled “Promoting Without Discounting” last month during the 2015 Nightclub & Bar Convention & Tradeshow. The session drew a full crowd and focused on teaching attendees the difference between promotions and discounts and how to focus on four key traits in the process:
1. Brand marketing
2. Pricing Structure
3. Inventory Control
4. Brand perception
Nightclub & Bar wrote a great recap article about this presentation, showcasing the importance of this topic in our industry.
“What Whitney wanted the audience to take away from her seminar was that there’s a difference between promotions and discounts. To understand this, nightclub operators must recognize the importance of brand marketing, pricing structure, inventory control and brand perception. She broke down each in expert fashion. When marketing your brand, for instance, you need to know what experience you want to deliver to your guests, present a venue that fits within that desired experience and understand that special events should be presented as a bonus to promotions rather than the whole promotion.
In terms of pricing structure, ask yourself the following questions: What are my guests willing to pay for my atmosphere? What are they willing to pay for my products? Answer those questions and avoid pricing yourself too low or too high. It turns out that pricing structure is rather simple to understand. Do market research, figure out your target market and figure out how to reach that market and be profitable. Once you’ve got your pricing structure under control, inventory control is next. Designate a decision maker who will decide what inventory will be marketed and who will control it, understand that reservations should be viewed as inventory and consider using a table reservation management system, and control your usage of free inventory as free items can make you and your brand look cheap in the eyes of guests.”
Read the full recap about this presentation on the Nightclub & Bar website, and get access to the presentation slides on SlideShare.
