Daypart solutions: pub marketing ideas

Target new demographics

Operators could look to help drive more food and drink sales at sites between 9am and 5pm by attracting home workers in with a ‘Work from Pub’ offer.

Research*[1] shows that 55% of home workers would be open to considering working from a pub, so if sites have the right offer for them, including quiet spaces, good internet, accessible sockets for charging, comfortable chairs and appealing food and drink packages (such as unlimited drinks, light bites and a clocking off drink), then they could reap the rewards of being a place to work as well as play.

Maximise the opportunity of coffee

With an efficient coffee operation, including well-trained staff and impactful marketing, there is scope for pubs and bars in the right locations to become the local coffee shop and drive more footfall.
Luxury and boozy coffees and hot chocolate can push up average spend, and you could look at sites offering premium seasonal specials to keep offers fresh and exciting and drive spend up. If you are looking for more ideas on how to maximise your coffee offer, discover ‘Coffee Your Way’, which provides all the support you need get the right coffee offer.

Focus on coffee during the day

Look to increase sales further with a simple supporting food range, such as our wholesale cakes and wholesale pastries. Control wastage by using par-baked frozen pastry ranges, which can be cooked as required.

Offer deals such as tea and toast for a set-price in the mornings or coffee/tea and cake for £5 on weekdays between 2pm and 5pm.

Is there potential to offer monthly coffee subscription service at some sites, where customers can enjoy a set number of drinks per month?

You could also consider if there is an opportunity for a regular coffee morning to be hosted at venues, such as a ‘MeetUp Mondays’, for people struggling with isolation who are looking to enjoy the company of others. Or try and attract people into your pubs/bars around common interests, such as expectant or new parent coffee mornings, a regular Craft Café, or dog-owner meet-up.

All day brunch

Brunch, including a bottomless drinks option, is also proving successful for a number of pub and bar operators, and with consumers increasingly looking for more certainty around price before booking to eat out, the demand for packages like this looks set to continue.

Top tips as title

Our top tips for making the most of breakfast/brunch are:

1. Consider which days of the week bring in the most revenue for breakfast/brunch offers and look to offer them on those days.
2. Focus on a small and operationally easy to deliver, but quality offer, including vegetarian and vegan-options. Upsell with simple options such as sausage, bacon or hash brown add-ons.
3. If any of your pubs or bars have private dining rooms or quieter areas, consider driving weekday breakfast trade around pre-booked business breakfast meetings.
4. Encourage customers to enjoy breakfast whilst working alongside others in a weekly ‘Home Workers Breakfast Club’ amongst the bustling atmosphere of the pub.
5. If you have sites located near offices or industrial areas, consider if there is an opportunity around a short breakfast delivery menu on a Friday morning, when people are in more of a treat mentality mind-set, with low-labour options such as bacon or sausage sandwiches.

Specials for WFH workers

Bidfood’s Development Chef Craig Miles says: “Home workers will be looking for good value options. It is also important to have healthier options available early to mid-week too, so consider having a menu section or specials with dishes under a certain number of calories.

Consider healthier pub food options

St Austell’s managed pubs are enjoying success with a lighter-lunch options menu, featuring smaller versions of dishes from the main menu, plus sandwiches. Lewis Allington, Head of Food at St Austell says: “This has gone really well for us in helping drive covers at lunchtime and we will carry on with it.”

Adapt your pub lunch menu

Craig recommends using products such as frozen salads for lunch menus. He says: “These remove the need for lots of different ingredients such as multiple grains and reduces prep time.”

Offering smaller portions of dishes from your main menu is another idea to help attract people in for lunch. St Austell has taken this approach. Lewis Allington, Head of Food says: “It’s helped drive covers over lunchtime and so we’ll continue to offer the reduced size options”.

Benchmark against high street offers

Neil Bell, Chef Consultant adds: “If you are based around industry or offices, then ensure these people can pop in and grab a quick bite with an offer that is competitively priced rather than going to the nearest supermarket for a meal deal.”

Incentivise customers through your drinks menu

Encourage early diners and drinkers in with an offer such as ‘Two for one G&Ts or cocktails’, from 4pm to 6.30pm weekdays on selected drinks.

Offer a menu of small plate tapas-style dishes, or chilled grazing platters, to encourage customers who weren’t planning to eat, to share something over some drinks, too.

Utilise package deals to increase spend per head

Like bottomless brunch, a pre-booked afternoon tea offering gives customers pricing certainty, which in these cost-conscious times will help appeal to many consumers.

Ensure the pub can offer the right setting and atmosphere for this type of offer and package which should include a glass of prosecco, a G&T, cocktail or non-alcoholic drink. Aim to include vegan, gluten-free and child-friendly options.

Always review and improve

Of course, introducing a food offer to a different daypart isn’t necessarily the right solution for all venues.

Key considerations include:

• Will an all-day dining, brunch or afternoon tea menu drive enough profit to require the extra staff in the kitchen?
• Could the prep and service of any of these offers be done by using less-skilled team members to free up a senior chef to instead prepare for the evening service or take a break?
• Which days of the week would bring in the most revenue for these offers? You don’t have to put these offers on daily, just those with the biggest profit opportunity
• If you offer an all-day dining menu during the late afternoon, could it be simplified to just sandwiches, cold grazing boards, chips, cold bar snacks or cakes?
• Trial an offer first to gauge customer feedback and market appeal

It is certainly worth exploring if the right offers can help clock up more profits and attract new customers to your pubs and bars. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…