IN IT FOR THE LONG TERM

TERESA DADEY and KEVIN GREGORY of Rawlingson Lane Publicity, argue that a steady drip-drip approach to PR is the most effective way of building a reputation.

For the lonely club manager eyeing up the competition and trying to bring in the punters, the obvious ways to multiply footfall fast either involve creative ways with a calculator resulting in price deals, or coming up with inventive ideas for special events. Both of these strategies have their worth and may result in quick successes, but in order to ensure long term stability, a more subtle approach to marketing and PR is required.

We have been handling PR for Wadworth for two years now, and as well as ensuring the brand image receives good coverage locally and nationally, we are responsible for working with the individual pubs to try and help them raise their profiles in their local areas. As with any group of people, the publicans we work with are a mixture of those who have an excellent understanding of the benefits of working with the media and those who can’t grasp the difference between advertising, PR and marketing, and are suspicious of all three.

Nearly all of them are quick to contact us with great excitement to tell us about their latest special promotion, yet do not look at the bigger picture to find the ‘people’ stories that make the best page fillers for the local media. It is our job to explain that a newspaper might print a small paragraph about the beer festival that the pub is planning for a forthcoming weekend, but is much more likely to give prominence to a story about the cleaner who is celebrating working at the pub for 40 years, or the new landlady who is taking on the licence of the pub in the village in which she grew up.

“But what use is a story about the cleaner, we want people to come to our beer festival,” is the response we are likely to get. However, good PR is all about slow building of a reputation, getting your name out there in whatever positive context, and showing that you are playing a part in the local community. The key to success is to target the media in different ways for different types of stories.

For the purposes of keeping your name in the media and building your reputation, we recommend that establishments should aim to target local media, four to six times a year with a positive upbeat story. These stories are better if they are based round people - customers, staff, someone local who has benefited from the pub’s charity fundraising – animal stories are also popular. Vitally, these stories should be accompanied by a high resolution, quality photograph. A good photograph will almost always sell a story and it is worth investing in a professional photographer if at all possible.

This is not to say that you should forget about promoting the events and special offers you are organising. For these stories, it is perhaps worth considering advertising, competitions or coupon giveaways as ways of promotion. Contact your local media with ideas for competition prizes or coupon giveaways, and you will be amazed how receptive they can be. For example, try a ‘bring this coupon along and get a free hot dog’ to promote your beer festival. Simple, but effective, and not too expensive. Offers like this guarantee coverage as well as driving footfall.

It is worth getting to know your local media - particularly local newspaper journalists, but don’t forget the local radio stations, tv and online websites. Think creatively about how you can get them to visit your club - ask them round to review your food – it will only cost you the price of a meal for two, or give them a free pass for the evening. If you are launching a new menu, you could take some samples round to the office, or send them a homemade cake to announce the launch of a new teashop. Journalists are generally interested and receptive, and will usually look for the positives in a review.

One way of combining the two approaches is through building a loyalty club which allows you to market special offers and events to your customers, as well as provide them with services such as a regular newsletter which will help build your reputation.

This complements work with the media, and gives you an opportunity to work directly with your customers. We have set up the Cask Ale Club with Wadworth which works across the network of pubs, and is a way for the brewery to communicate with keen real ale drinkers who register, are sent a regular newsletter and benefit from special discounts and offers.

Some do’s and don’ts
DO....
• Identify your PR and marketing aims, and consider the best way to achieve them.
• Use a variety of marketing and PR strategies – don’t assume that the same approach is suitable for every eventuality.
• Aim to build reputation by feeding your local media with regular news stories.
• Never underestimate the power of a good photograph.
• Get to know the journalists that cover your local area.
• Open your eyes and look for news stories surrounding you, your staff and your customers.
• Consider the benefits of running a customer loyalty club.

DON’T...
• Concentrate solely on promoting events and special deals. These will not be received as kindly by the media as proper news or people stories. Any positive mention reminds people that you are there and open for business.
• Expect the media to print exactly what you tell them to. Any coverage will always be their take on your story, as long as important points such as times and places are correct, be open minded before being critical!
• Wait for the media to come to you. You need to be proactive and persistent!

• For further information: www.rawlingsonlanepublicity.co.uk

PROFESSIONALISM
The refurbishment contractor should be capable of handling the project from inception to completion. They must have the experience and capability of relieving the customer of the problems generated by planning requirements, building and fire regulations, health and safety controls and the general day-to-day running of the building site itself.

SPECIALISTS
Select a company that has extensive design and build knowledge of the club market.

PREMISES
It is very important that a visit is made to the contractor’s factory to see first hand the extent and quality of work. The greater the amount of work carried out ‘in house’ as opposed to sub-contracted, the better.

FINANCIALLY SECURE
Ensure the contractor is financially secure. Accountability should not just be for the duration of the refurbishment but also for after-sales service. References can be taken out (through banks and Companies House) to check the company’s credit worthiness.

REFERENCES
Take up references of past work undertaken and arrange to visit similar clubs that the contractor has refurbished.

INSURANCE
The contractor should have at least £5,000,000 Public Liability Insurance cover.

VALUE FOR MONEY
When comparing different companies and quotes for refurbishment, assess the tenders carefully. The decision should not be based on cost alone - the cheapest is not always the best in the long term. The company should be selected on the criteria of best value for money.