OKAY, LET'S PLAY WHO WANTS TO PROMOTE A NIGHTCLUB?
By Rich Unger
As Regis delivers solid ratings for ABC TV and puts his show in the top five every
week, I find myself asking "who wants to promote a nightclub?" I have
discovered on the internet so many nightclub web pages, that simply go dormant and dated.
The promotions mentioned are so old and dated. some are months sometimes a century old,
yet still featured on the sites, I find the mentality of the promotions that clubs offer
so lame and limbering. I have to ask myself why do these people even own bars,
nightclubs and restaurants?
I read message boards on nightclub consulting sites, and i have never seen so many who
know so little about a business that requires razor sharp ideas and pin point precision
promoting. I get paid to consult nightclubs and restaurants and expand their base of
income and broaden their traffic and volume.
You don't accomplish this simply by having drinks two for one and a ladies night.
you have to promote, you have to do research, you have to find the latest and current
trends and fads, and then capitalize on them. But you must plan promote and produce
a winning concept. The WCW and WWF television shows are not just gaining record
viewers for UPN and USA networks, it is also a great promotional vehicle for your
establishment.
Nascar is the #1 sport in terms of new viewers on TV, so much so, Nascar is producing
all it's own races on tv. Again, this is another great promotional offering.
Who wants to promote a nightclub? That is the question of the moment. I
read message boards all over the net and the most asked questions are always regarding
promotions. Interestingly enough everyone wants the direction and input for free, I
mean I don't mind sharing some basics with the average manager or owner, but when
you want solid direction and great promotions, I think it only fair that you pay, don't
you agree?
I just had a club owner call me who has a great club, but it is in a downward spin.
club managers and operators are under the impression one promotion, one good night will
turn it around? Wrong, your club did not go kamikaze overnight, it took a number of
factors to go bad.
First it could have been competition and your lack of preparing for it?
It could have been your failure to keep it real, keep it fresh and keep it hot?
It could have been the loss of a great and popular band, or bartender?
It could have been your management style and your lack of appreciating your patrons?
It could have been your lack of updating and upgrading your operation?
It could have been your lack of cash flow and personal income to sustain the weak times in
anticipation of the good times?
It could have been your trusting of a manager or partner who ripped you off big time?
Any of these factors can be the reasons your operation is in the toilet. I find
it fascinating that an owner's ego is more important than his wallet. Promotions are
like extinct specie's of animals, you have to nourish them and feed them, you have to care
for them and give them your utmost attention.
Every nightclub, bar, lounge and restaurant is a different breed of animal, with no two
alike. What works for one, does not necessarily equate success for another. I
have so many ideas that transform into fantastic promotions, but the require planning,
producing and promoting. Hot bod contests, upside drinking, mud wrestling, foxy
boxing, lingerie
shows, calendar contests, wet t-shirt contests, home made bikini contests, been there done
that, these are yesterdays promotions and last century's promotions. Why clubs
present them is beyond me, you can beat a horse to death, but I mean he can only race for
so long.
Liquor brands have also become far too complacent, I mean if you want to push your
product, you have to entertain, educate, and enthrall your patrons. If your not
jammed friday night, you have major and I mean major problems. If your not jammed
wednesday night, you have major problems. If your closed more than two nights a
week, you have major problems.
Denial is the most resounding emotion that costs clubs cold hard cash. What you
have to think about, i have already thought, what you have to create, i have already
designed, what you have to question, I have already answered.
The reason you need advice and a consultant is because bottom line.........you can't do
it all!
Rich Unger, Ph: 941-921-7027, Fx: 941-921-7278 E-mail: RichUnger@promotingnightclubs.com |
