christmas brief

Your bumperguide to driving

sales thisChristmas.

£500 to be wontowards yourspring 2013

garden – turn over thispage to find out

more!

Christmas 2012 – all wrapped up

Sponsored by J20 Glitterberry

2431 Charles Well Xmas News 02_Layout 1 10/08/2012 12:28 Page 1

Christmas all wrapped upfor you by Charles Wells

It may seem early to be talking about Christmas in August, but asChristmas can be worth about 25% of your annual profit, you needto be thinking about it now. With people soon to be returning backfrom their summer holidays and kids going back to school in earlySeptember, their thoughts will be turning to what they are going todo for Christmas this year and you want them to be thinking aboutcoming to your pub rather than your competition.

To help you maximise the sales-building opportunity that Christmasrepresents, the Charles Wells Sales & Marketing team have pulledtogether this bumper newsletter edition full of ideas and top tips forbuilding your Christmas sales from now until the Festive period itself.

If that wasn’t enough, we have created a FREE “Book now forChristmas” kit to help you pre-promote Christmas before yourcompetition and secure those all-important early bookings. History shows that many of our competitors start to promoteChristmas to their customers in August so this kit will help you getthere before them.

With just 16 weeks to go untilthe beginning of December,ask yourself – are you ready?

As you will see below, there are two differentlooks for you to choose from and each kitcontains the following:

• 250 x beer mats

• 2 x A2 A board posters – these are emptybelly so you can add your own message

• 10 x pump crowners

• 1 x A3 Festive events planner

Order your FREE “Book Now for Christmas kit” now from the Telesales team on 01234 279100 from Monday 13th August.

All you need to do is order 3 firkins of Wells & Young's Cask Beer from the core range below

There are only 50 of each kit available. Hurry to make sure you dont miss out



The point of sale support doesn’t stop there though, as the launch of My Pubhub– your one stop shop for all your sales-building POS needs, will include evenmore Christmas items which match the “Book now” POS, enabling you to have afull suite of point of sale to promote Christmas professionally to your customers.When you log onto the system (using the details we will send you) you will also find the templates below for you to create your own bespoke Christmas point of sale as well as a 25% discount on your first order of Christmas items by the end of September:

• Food menu • Drinks menu • Book now for Christmas flyers• New Years Eve and January flyers • Christmas opening hours posters

My Pubhub will be available from early September and your log-in details and training manual will be sent to you at your pub very soon.

COMINGSOON

Terms & Conditions• There are 50 of each design of “book now” kit available. These will be available to order on a first come, first served basis fromTelesales. Maximum of 1 kit per outlet. When they’re gone – they’re gone! • Incentive prizes are garden centre vouchers which cannot be exchanged for cash or an alternative prize.• All photo entries must be received by 16/12/12.• Winners will be announced by 20/1/13.

MY PUBHUB POS

1)Preparation2)Promotion3)Prepare to succeed!

Once you’ve done that, make a cup of

tea, sit down and let us take you

through the 3 P’s of Christmas

And if that wasn’t enough, if you take advantage of our Christmas point of sale and send us a photo to show us how you have used it bythe 16 December we will enter you into our Christmas 2012 “allwrapped up” incentive. *The pub who demonstrates the greatest draught product volume uplift inNovember and December 2012 Vs November and December 2011 willwin £500 worth of garden centre vouchers towards their Spring 2013garden and the runner up will win £250 worth of garden centre voucherstowards their Spring 2013 garden.We will also be running a separate incentive for the best-dressed/merchandised pub over Christmas 2012 who will also win £250 worth of garden centre vouchers towards their Spring 2013 garden.All you need to do is send in your photos of your amazingly decorated pub by the 16 December or give them to your RDM when you see themprior to this date.

COMPETITION


Remember as the saying goes,you’ve got to be in it to win it, so orderyour FREE “Book Now forChristmas kit” now from theTelesales team on 01234 279100from Monday 13th August. All youneed to do is order 3 firkins of Wells &Young’s cask beer from our corerange and your kit will be sent out toyou. There are only 50 of each style ofkit available, so time is of the essence.Then look out for the launch of My Pubhub and order the rest of yourChristmas point of sale!


The 1st P of Christmas – Preparation

Preparation is everything.If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!

Remember – Christmas can be worth up to 25%of your annual profit, so it pays to be prepared!

Call a team meeting this week and review what you did lastyear together. What were the best selling combinationsfrom your Christmas Food menu? Which drinks sold thebest? What was customers’ feedback at the time – wasthere one key thing they felt you could improve? How didcustomers find out about your Christmas offer – online/aflyer/from your team? What did your competitors offer?

Reviewing last year will help you prepare a clear plan for this year. Once you have decided what your offer isgoing to be, and ordered your Christmas point of sale from Telesales and My Pubhub, use your Festive eventsplanner provided in your FREE kit to plan out what youwant to do when.

A great starting point is setting up a Christmas table in/nearthe entrance of your pub so that everyone entering/leavingyour pub is clear on your Christmas offer.

Start promoting your Christmas offer on your website,Facebook and Twitter and make sure you contact

everyone who booked last year. Start promoting Christmasin your e-mail newsletters from August and up theexposure you give to Christmas each month as you getnearer to the big day. Walk round the local businesses andgive them copies of your Christmas menu. Christmas is agreat opportunity to introduce new customers to yourbusiness – ensure they have a great time and then you’llhave them as guaranteed customers in 2013.

Are you able to offer a “book early” offer to customersbooking before the end of October? A complimentarybottle of wine for the party when they come and dine withyou always works well. What about reducing the price ofyour Christmas offer to people dining on off-peak days ieSundays, Mondays, late November/early January etc?

You should also give thought to how you are going to zoneyour pub when the Christmas bookings start to come in.Will you allocate two thirds to dining and one third todrinking? Will you need to order a marquee to help expandyour Christmas trading area/ host private parties?



The 2nd P of Christmas – Promotion!Here are 12 promotional ideas to help youbuild sales and secure those all-importantearly bookings this Christmas…

1. Set Up A Christmas TableWhy not set up a Christmas table to showcase your Christmasmenu, loyalty cards and any other promotions. You could use thisto advertise up and coming events you have planned and topromote your Christmas food and drink. Make sure it’s in apredominant place in your pub so your customers can easily seeit, ideally as soon as they walk through the door. You could evenhave an e-mail sign up where customers can leave their details toreceive newsletters and offers from you. Make sure you decoratethe table festively with bold colours to draw attention.

3. Hit The Local BusinessesIf you have a function room or a Marquee then it’s a great opportunity to make some extra money by offering your pubto local businesses for their works Christmas party.

How To Do This:• Make sure you advertise well in advance so companies have plenty of time to book.• Create a pre-paid set menu (with a vegetarian option) to serve during the evening.• Have special offers on festive drinks or even offer a complimentary glass of mulled wine for each customer.• You could have a fancy dress theme with prizes for the ‘best dressed’.

Why Do It?:Everybody loves a good party and its great fun to dress up.

2. Hold A Taster Evening Throw a “taster evening” to showcase yourChristmas menu. Invite key localbusinesses and key people from the localcommunity. Offer them a free drink andnibbles and use the evening to showcaseyour Christmas menu and get some all-important bookings!

4. Attend the Local Christmas Food FayreFood is a key focus at Christmas time, and Christmas foodfayres are very popular during this period. This is a greatopportunity for you to promote your own menu and Christmasspecialties, it is also a chance to involve local businesses andwork together as a community.

How To Do This:• Find out when your local food fayre is and organise yourparticipation or hold your own event. If you choose to run yourown event:• Choose a weekend at the beginning of December.• Get local businesses involved by running stalls to promotetheir products.• Hold this in your garden if it’s big enough, if the weather is badyou could always hire a marquee for the occasion (althoughexpensive you could use this to hold other Christmas eventsas well).

Why Do It?:It can involve the whole community, giving you strong ties withlocal businesses and even attract new custom.

5. Attend The Turning On OfThe Christmas Lights

This is a great opportunity to promote yourChristmas offer to the local community.

How To Do This:• Find out when the Christmas lights aregoing to be turned on and find out if youcan set up a stall and serve mulled wine,festive snacks or meal tasters to promoteyour Christmas menu. • If a stall isn’t an option, why not get someflyers printed and hand them out toeveryone attending the event.

Why Do It?:To advertise your Christmas menu andforthcoming events, and to promote afamily focused Christmas and New Year.



6. Christmas ShoppingHours

Find out when the shops in yourtown/nearest town are extending theirhours for Christmas shopping or holdingspecial Christmas shopping events.

How To Do This:• Find out if you can set up a stall and servemulled wine, festive snacks or mealtasters to promote your Christmas menu. • If a stall isn’t an option, why not get someflyers printed and hand them out toeveryone attending the event.

Why Do It?:It’s a great way to liven up the shoppingexperience for your local traders and givesyou the opportunity to advertise yourChristmas menu and forth coming events.

7. E-mail Advent CalenderThis year, why not have your own advent calendar. You couldcount down the days till Christmas by holding a different event oroffer for your customers each day! Make sure customers sign upto your e-mails so they can receive their daily vouchers.

How To Do This:• Put your advent calendar up on the wall or use chalk boardsto show the daily offer.• You could offer meal deals, drink deals or even acomplimentary glass to the first 10 customers of the day.• Make sure your customers are aware of all the offers so theycan come in on days that most appeal to them.• Try to improve each offer as it gets closer to Christmas andsave the best for Christmas Eve and the week running up.

Why Do It?:This is a great way to encourage customers to come back a regularbasis over the Christmas period. It also gives you a chance topromote any events you are holding over the holidays.

8. Getting People In The MoodCHRISTMAS QUIZPub quizzes are always popular so why not hold onewith a festive theme! You could put your Christmasmenu on each table to promote your food and serve acomplimentary glass of mulled wine to each contestant.Serve festive beverages and create a meal deal to serveduring the interval. And don’t forget a prize for thewinning team!

CHRISTMAS CAROL KARAOKEEverybody loves a bit of karaoke, so why not give it aChristmas twist. This would be a great idea for anevening in the week running up to Christmas; it will getyour customers in the mood and bring everybodytogether with a good old sing along. Make sure youhave a wide selection of well-known Christmas songsand carols that will be known by the majority of yourclientele. This is a great idea to bring everybodytogether. You could hire a local band to play liveaccompanying music if you don’t have karaokefacilities. It might be a nice idea to also have a collectionfor a charity of your choice.

MOVIE NIGHTWhy not organize a Christmas movie night, showing aselection of classic Christmas films. You could liven upa quiet mid-week evening or even host the eventweekly, showing a different film each week on the runup to Christmas. You could even have a customersuggestion box to increase consumer involvement.

How To Do This:• Firstly check that your premise licence allows you toshow films.• Either use a function room if available, or section offan area for viewers.• Organize some festive snacks, such as home-madepopcorn.• Create a meal deal that can be pre-ordered andserved to customers during the interval.

Why Do It?:This is a great idea to get your customers in the holidayspirit and more involved. It’s a great opportunity to tryout a new concept, attract new customers and evenpromote your Christmas menu.

9. Don’t Forget The Kids!Christmas is a time for all the family so why not hold a children’s activity day during the school holidays.

How To Do This:• Pick a quiet day during the school holidays.• You could hold a craft day, where the children could make or decorate Christmas decorations which could behung on your Christmas tree.• You could get them to decorate cakes or gingerbread men with icing and sweets.• Hold a colouring competition, which could run through the Christmas period. Have an area on your wall to put upall the pictures and announce the winner on Christmas Eve with a special prize!

Why Do It?:During the holidays parents always struggle to find things to do to entertain the kids. It’s the perfect opportunity to sell yourselvesas a family pub and to fill a quiet weekday. You can also use this as a chance to promote your Christmas family dinner!


10. Unwanted Present AuctionThis is a fantastic idea for the quiet period between Christmas and New Year. Why not ask your customers and staff to donate unwanted Christmas gifts. You could auction these off and donate the proceeds to a charity of your choice.

How To Do This:• Choose a date between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.• Approach a local newspaper to see if you can get coverage for the event and the charitable cause.• You could also hold a raffle for the best present or donate a hamper to raffle off. • Why not provide snacks or involve a local food business to provide food to your customers for a donation? It’sanother great way to give to the cause.

Why Do It?:It’s a great chance to promote yourselves and your interest in supporting a local charitable cause. It gives yourcustomers an excuse to leave the house and provides a great way of recycling unwanted goods!

11. Pre-Promote New Years EveHost a New Year’s Eve party to remember!

How To Do This:• Use a function room or marquee if you have one.• You could have a theme party and ask your customers to come along in fancy dress with awards and prizes for thebest dressed.• Arrange a fireworks display for mid-night, or perhaps have Chinese lanterns for customers to light and set off intothe sky.• Have activities organised throughout the night for people to get involved in if they want such as Karaoke or games.• Make sure you organise and advertise well in advance, as this is a very busy date and you don’t want yourcustomers to make other arrangements!

Why Do It?:Everybody wants to do something for New Year’s Eve, but often it’s hard and expensive to arrange accommodationand taxis so it’s great opportunity for your local customers to have a great evening closer to home. Use this to youradvantage and organise an event to remember! It’s also a great opportunity to promote any offers you may haverunning through the traditionally quieter months of January and February.

12. Bounce People Back Into 2013Encourage your customers to ‘bounce back’ during the quieter months of January and February. Offer greatpromotions and discounts to draw them in.

How To Do This:• Distribute various promotional vouchers for January and February with drink/food bills during December.• You could give them away as prizes during the run up to Christmas or sell them for a small charitable donation.• Make sure a validity date is printed on ALL vouchers (preferably from January 2nd – the end of February).• Offers could include 2 for 1 on dining and drinks, complimentary wine with your meal or special fixed price menus.Make sure you bear your profit margins in mind!

Why Do It?:It will bring your Christmas clients back in during the quieter months in January and February when trade istraditionally quieter.

These 12 tips should definitely make it a festive season to remember



The 3rd P of Christmas – Prepare to succeed! There are 10 steps to success this Christmas.Here they are in a handy Christmas check list foryou and your team.

1 Order your FREE ‘Book now for Christmas’ kit from Telesales.

2 Organise a team meeting.

3 Order your menus and additional Christmas point of sale fromMy Pubhub.

4 Set up your Christmas table.

5 Contact all the people who dined with you over Christmas 2011.

6 Starting promoting your Christmas offer on your website,Facebook and Twitter.

7 Hold a Christmas taster/showcase evening.

8 Take your Christmas menu round the local businesses.

9 Attend the local Christmas food fayre/lights/shopping.

10 Above all – make sure you, your team and your customers have an amazing 2012 Christmas!

Produced by the Marketing Team,Charles Wells Pub Company, Charles Wells Limited,Lakeview House, Fraser Road,Priory Business Park,Bedford MK44 3WHTel: +44(0)1234 272625Registered in England No. 106884


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