Web Marketing: A taste of CityPubLife
Overnight guests at Perry Maher and Linda Langfrey's semi in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, might find themselves repeatedly climbing out of bed in the early hours to answer the doorbell. They'll have to get used to it. The 'Avon calling' ding-dong merely signals another visitor to the CityPubLife pub search website.
It's a good guide to what's happening in the outside world. On the morning of July 7, 2005, the bells were silent. Perry and Linda tuned in the radio to find that London was under terrorist attack and nobody was wondering which pub to go to for lunch.
In contrast, in the run-up to Ricky Hatton's big fight last December the bells were going mad as 8,000 people a day logged on to find a pub they could watch it in. It was as much a surprise to the trade as it was to Perry. Only nine pubs listed were screening the contest.
More than anything it was a lesson in marketing. On the morning before the late-night fight the Slug and Lettuce in Fulham, West London, still had 250 tickets to sell. Desperate to shift at least a few it advertised the show on CityPubLife - and by six that evening it had sold out. At £10 a ticket. "And I reckon we could have sold 2,500 tickets for them that day," says Perry. Measurable success
He launched CityPubLife in 2003. At last count 577 pubs were listed, most of them in London. It sounds like small beer compared to the likes of beerintheevening.com but it's a peculiarly intensive operation that has brought measurable success for the licensees who take part - and they really do have to take an active part.
The people visiting the site are looking not just for somewhere for a drink but a pub where they can host a party, watch a particular sporting event, enjoy some entertainment, celebrate an occasion like St Patrick's Day, eat a certain kind of cuisine - or often a combination of those. In fact, Perry and Linda came up with the idea for CityPubLife when they were looking for a pub with karaoke and Thai food.
This makes it essential that licensees frequently go on site to update the information on their pub. If they fail, the pub is removed. A bit like that strange statistic that says there are as many people living today as have died in the past, half the pubs that have ever joined CityPubLife have been booted off. It's a strong sense of focus that can wave goodbye to the £15 a month each pub pays to the site.
Licensees who have stuck to the job will be familiar with Perry's regular emails reminding them to update, cajoling them to make sure they have advertised forthcoming events and generally making sure they are properly marketing their business.
"Our mantra is success at the service of others - not at the expense of others," says Perry. "We see ourselves as working on the side of the pubs, rather than the customer, and want to build up a close relationship with the managers to help them develop their businesses."The site is currently undergoing a revamp and Perry and Linda hope to extend its reach around the rest of the country.
