Ed Davies, the licensee of the superb family-owned Kilvert’s in Hay-on-Wye, wrote a blog hoping to bring together publicans in a national call-to-arms against the current negative view that the press deem to apply to the entire licensed trade.
He proposes creating a group, backed primarily by a totally private online discussion area, that is specifically for Licensees – taking out the Pub Companies and Breweries which polute the majority of the current trade’s organisations.
I will certainly be backing this proposal, there is definitely a need for a group that isn’t biased towards certain points-of-view. The extra advantage of a private discussion forum away from public scrutiny will of course mean that sensitive issues can be brought up without fear of the media miss-interpreting it.
I would recommend that you read his blog post surrounding this, post any ideas and views onto the post – it will be “our” group, so we can make it what we want it to be!
http://studentbrewer.blogspot.com/2011/02/publicans-trade-group.html
The Castle Inn's Facebook Page
I though that it would be useful to start a series of “how-to” guides for publicans and the vari0us social media options that are now available.
Facebook as it currently stands is the most used social networking site in the work with over 500 million active users of which 50% of those users log in every day (for more crazy statistics take a look at their Stats page!) – as such it feels like it would be the perfect place to start.
Facebook is a brilliant social networking site and can be used by pubs very effectively as a means of free promotion. As the owner of the page you are able to send updates to each fans page which they are able to comment on, as well as send direct “private” messages to their inbox for a more direct approach. At the Castle Inn we use it heavily to update our “fans” on new beers coming on sale, our latest dog photos, menu changes and everything in between – thanks to the two-way nature of the service we get valuable feedback from our customers.
Over the several parts of this series I will discuss the initial creation of the page (in this part), creating events, custom pages, effective promotion and integration with websites.
Figure 1
Creating the Page
Visit the Facebook “Create a Page” section which helpfully leads you through a lot of the process. URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/browser.php#!/pages/create.php
On this page click on the “Local Business or Place” button (Figure 1).
The button will then switch with a form for you to fill out. From the “Choose a Category” drop down select either the Bar or Restaurant option – do not worry about the titles as it simply changes the sort of information that is shown by default on your page. I would recommend choosing the Restaurant option if your food offering is a large percentage of your trade.
Fill out the rest of the form with your business details. After reading through the “Facebook Pages terms” and ticking the box acknowledging that you have done so, click the “Get Started” button.
Figure 2
Once you have done this your browser should then refresh and show you your brand new (and blank!) Facebook page (Figure 2.)
As you can see the “Get started” tab helpfully provides you with a list of things to work through in order to get your page going.
It is very important to upload a good photograph of the pub as your profile image as it is used both on your page as well as any search results. If you have the ability, or know someone who does, it is useful to make a custom image with the name of the pub in it, similarly as we have done on our page.
Rather than inviting fans straight away as it recommends, you should click on the “Info” tab at the top and then click the “edit information”. From this Edit page you can write in all the relevant information about your business including opening times – any empty boxes will simply not be displayed to any fans. In each section remember to click the “Save Changes” button and then the “Finished Editing” button when you are finished on the page.
The other tabs at the top of the page are fairly self explanatory – clicking the “+” tab offers you the option to add additional tabs. The Events add-on is very helpful if you hold any events like Pub Quizzes, Beer Festivals or similar – they mean you can advertise them on top of your fan Page and allows people to say they attending and post comments, photos and videos about the event. By clicking the “Edit Page” link the left hand menu you are able to edit even more settings on your page and add additional “Apps” or plug-ins to further increase the functionality of your page.
That’s all for this part, the next part will include a guide to the Events section and adding a Facebook page “badge” to your own website.
1st Result on Google
It amazes me that in today’s Internet-centric age that many businesses, not just in the hospitality industry, still have not moved with the times and developed a website.
The pub trade seems to be one of the worst in catching up in this sense, I urge you to have a search on your “browser of choice” (i.e. Google) for a local pub that is not performing well – I would be confident that 90% of the time that the pub would not have its own website. Conversely, I would bet that any pub that is performing very well would have it’s own website which, more importantly, is up to date!
When talking to other licensees about the reason they haven’t got a website you always get the same responses: “I can’t afford it”, “I haven’t got the time”, “No one would use it”. Shocking!
Excuses
The “can’t afford it” line is possibly the most ridiculous response with website hosting so cheap now – You could easily set up a site with domain registration and hosting for approximately £120 a year. That’s a pint a week to cover that cost. I believe that once a pub website is established, i.e. easily found on search engines and linked to from other sites, the return on a website would be 100 fold. Our website, http://www.thecastleinn-lulworthcove.co.uk/, costs approximately £400 a year due to the huge amount of hits we receive and we would not hold back a penny – Our website is critical for maintaining our trade, for both advertising for new customers and retaining our existing customer base.
With some great (and free) Content Management Systems available on the market the time issue has been addressed also. For example, a site based on the popular blogging platform WordPress would allow a publican to manage their sites content from their web browser (no extra software needed) whenever they would like. Additional plug-ins allow them to add other functionality such as galleries and discussion forums.
The Importance of Search
Whenever I visit an area I am unfamiliar with the first thing I do is research the area on google. Say you are visiting Lulworth Cove and you had never been before, you want to plan which pub to visit in the evening, so you search for “pubs in Lulworth Cove”. From those results you begin to make assumptions about the various options on offer, and choose the pub which most fits the sort of venue you prefer.
If you are not in this initial list you will NOT be considered.
Many pub review sites try to fill this gap by offering large directories of pubs in areas however the reviews on these sites can easily be manipulated by other businesses and can actually lead to an impression upon your pub that is less than desirable. With your own website, YOU control every bit of content, providing your own first impressions to potential customers – not the impression that the review site and other customers leave.
In future posts I will discuss the “merits” of various review sites and also offer publicans a very basic walkthrough on setting up their own site with a CMS.
The Harp Bar, Covent Garden, London
Last weekend I went to London for the weekend to catch up with an old Uni friend and used the time to visit a few different venues in Greater London.
At the top of my list to visit was the Harp Bar, near Covent Garden. As they proudly advertise, the are the holders of the CAMRA Greater London Pub of the Year which meant it was a must visit.
Using the Good Beer Guide app on my Iphone we headed in it’s general direction, popping into the HUGE Apple store in Covent Garden of course!, looking into the various other pubs along the way.
The biggest thing that I noticed was that despite it being a Saturday afternoon the trendy “bars” were very quiet – very surprising considering the huge amount of potential customers and the huge proportion of marketing spend that the big breweries allocate to those bars!
The Harp is in a very unassuming position with a very traditional town bar frontage – the inside was clearly brimming with people, a stark contrast to the surrounding bars!
Upon entering we were greated by a large variety of clientele, not the typical CAMRA crowd that my friend was expecting! There was a blend of city workers and the older generation – it helped create a great positive atmosphere for new customers.
After working our way to the bar, passing people primarily drinking real ale and real cider, I admired the selection of seven real ales on offer, covering the range of styles. There was also a selection of real ciders available from Bag-In-Boxes in the fridge – my only issue was that they may be a tad cold to completely appreciate their complexity. I chose a pint of Dark Star‘s “American Pale Ale” which is probably my favourite hoppy bitter, which was in a superb condition and explained why the pub was in the Good Beer Guide!
Whilst we were there the Landlady, Bridget, introduced herself and asked how our beers were – a superb bit of customer service that you so rarely see in pubs today – so much so that my friend actually commented later that it was the first time that he had ever been asked how he was in London! She had just found out that the Harp had won the National CAMRA Pub of the Year – a superb achievement which from my experience is very much deserved.
I think many traditional pubs could learn a lot from visiting the Harp – especially with their strong focus on customer service and quality.
I wish Bridget all the best at the Harp – I will be back soon!
Sharp's Doom Bar
“Molson Coors buys Sharp’s Brewery for £20m”
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?storycode=68957
To read that headline in The Publican was very much a shock to the system.
I always thought that Sharp’s would be the next regional brewer to be taken over by a larger company, however I personally expected Marston’s to be the company involved.
“Commenting on the deal Mark Hunter, Molson Coors’ chief executive, said his company respected what he called the “unique culture of Sharp’s brewery and the special appeal of their brands to beer drinkers”.” – The Publican
I honestly hope that Molson Coors really will stand by that sentiment – unfortunately the prior track record of the larger national breweries and buy-outs of smaller regionals has been extremely poor.
The purchase of Ringwood Brewery by Marston’s in 2007 is possibly the closest parallel to this situation. I left my employment with Ringwood Brewery the month before the take-over so I experienced the atmosphere and culture of a superb independant regional brewery. Despite what the public image of Ringwood Brewery that Marston’s now pushes, I know that things have changed within the brewery. Unfortunately, it is inevitable.
The new relationship between Sharp’s and Coors, if managed correctly, could allow the various Sharp’s brands to grow into national brands (for better or worse!). The problems would begin when national demand is too much for the small brewery in Rock to cope with. I highly doubt that the brewery would be expanded in Rock; I would expect to see the main brands to shif brewing to Coors’ other breweries across the country to help to lower distribution costs.
Impact upon The Castle Inn
Unfortunately changes seem to be already passing through Sharp’s – I heard today that the brewery will no longer be dealing with Pins (36 pints rather than the traditional 72 pint Firkin).
At the Castle Inn we use pins throughout the winter (September to May) in order to maintain our large range of cask ale and also ensuring that we are shifting a container in a maximum of two days.
I am waiting to hear back from our Sharp’s Rep (who says it is business as usual at the brewery) to see what will be happening regarding the Pin situation.
It would be very sad to not stock Sharp’s beer, but unfortunately we cannot compromise quality over sentiment!
Further Reading:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article2066535.ece
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?storycode=68957
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=68958
Welcome to my blog!
I will be discussing my various interests in business and technology developments here!
Cheers,
Alex
