Marketing Chaos...less is more!

Happy hours and early bird specials can sound a bit quaint these days...but versions of both have existed in hospitality forever.

They've become so familiar, so ingrained in the culture of eating and drinking out, that we don't even think of them as marketing anymore. But for landlords and restaurateurs they remain important tools in the ongoing battle to fill tables and keep customers coming back.

The underlying deal is always the same. Come early, when we'd otherwise be quiet, and you get a cheaper meal or a discounted drink. A simple trade-off that works for both parties and requires no explanation.

Customers don't expect discounted pints at nine on a Friday night, and restaurants charge full price at peak times. The language is established, the terms are understood and nobody needs to read the small print. We don't call it an early bird special anymore...pre-theatre sounds better...but the deal hasn't changed.

These offers also help hospitality venues build a rhythm to the week. Quiz nights, steak nights, curry and a pint for a tenner on Wednesdays. Easy to communicate, easy to understand, easy to remember.

So why are we talking about the Wetherspoon's marketing playbook?

Last week I walked past Café François in Borough Market and glanced at the board outside. What confronted me was, frankly, a bit overwhelming!

Chicken and chips for £15, available any day except Sunday, but only between midday and six. A New York Happy Meal...top marks for the name...of martini and fries for a tenner, available every day from midday, but only in the Market Bar. And unlimited chocolate mousse for £5, available after a main course...though whether the chicken and chips counts as a main course is, I'd suggest, open to interpretation…

Once you've worked all of that out, you can turn your attention to the actual menu. Although you'll first need to establish which one, as breakfast, brunch, lunch, Sunday lunch and dinner are each on a separate piece of paper…all this before you’ve walked through the door!

How much is too much?

When times are tough and the pressure to grow sales feels urgent, the answer is often to reach for more marketing. And the easiest thing to reach for is an offer. Something to fill the quiet periods, or to add a little extra spend to every bill with something that costs almost nothing to make...step forward the unlimited chocolate mousse!

More often than not, restaurants end up doing all of it at once and hoping something sticks.

I know this feeling well, from a former life running a large restaurant business. When times are hard, every idea feels worth a shot. But as I learned from a brilliant marketeer I used to work with, this approach has a significant downside. It confuses people. And confusion is not the emotion you want someone to feel when they've come out for dinner.

If I have to read the small print, check the time and establish what counts as a main meal before I can order, then the marketing has got a little carried away. Because instead of doing all of that, I could be looking at the menu and ordering a drink...which is why I came in the first place.

That's why the simple, time-honoured offers work so well. Nobody has to spend time understanding them. And the smart operators know that if someone is coming for an early dinner on a fixed price menu, the sooner they understand the offer, the sooner you can sell them an aperitif and a snack...which covers the cost of the discount anyway…once again, hospitality wins!

There is, of course, a place for layered, overlapping offers. But it's in venues that are consciously and intentionally serving a price-conscious customer. The Wetherspoon's model works perfectly because they know exactly who they're serving and they build their entire offer around that understanding. Café François, I'd gently suggest, is not that place…

So what do you do when times are difficult?

If you believe in what you do...double down on it.

Resist the temptation to reach for gimmicks.

Find ways to tell more people about the things you already do well.

We're reminded of this every week when we meet first-time visitors who were recommended by a friend, or regulars who didn't know we do roasts on Sunday.

It's a useful reminder that what feels like the answer...shiny new things to talk about...is sometimes less valuable than simply talking more about what you already do.