JACKASS NOT JUST AN MTV MORONIC SHOW, BUT THE PERFECT NAME FOR THIS CLUB'S
OPENING....
By Rich Unger
"JACKASS" is the moronic reality based show on MTV, that is not only popular, but so far has caused one viewer to re enact the stunts on the show
and almost die. Now I cite you a Club Opening that I put in the same vein.
This is a True Story...........No names, because I don't want to rub it in....................................
This is all about The "Grand Opening" of this club..... The club advertises on strictly "Hard Rock" radio
stations that are 99% Primarily Men. The bar offers 25 cent Drafts and $1 wells all weekend. The bar presents "Wet T-shirt" Contests on both nights of it's Grand
Opening. The bar takes a full page ad in color in a free weekly publication.
The bar pays to have Radio Station DJ's appear in person.
What's wrong with this "Grand Opening"? Let me begin at the beginning. By advertising on strictly two Hard Rock Format Radio Stations,
this bar has no chance of attracting women to it. Hard Rock formats appeal primarily to Men.
Secondly, if the club had bothered to check the Arbitron Ratings, that each
Radio Market is rated by, they would have discovered one Station's strength
is fifty miles away, and the local station has Zero listeners.
Had this Club checked ratings, or consulted with an advertising agency this
club would have realized it spent way too much money for way too little audience and reach? By paying for personal appearances by local DJ's who don't have an impact
on listeners, and whom listeners don't regard as MADCOW, or STERN, or a high
profile Jock, you are wasting your $$$$.
When local on air disc jockeys appear at car dealerships, burger joints,
car washes, the impact they have on appearing at a club opening is minuscule.
Local DJ "s from radio stations usually show up dressed like slobs, they want free drinks and food and do their two phone IN's an hour with no hype or
real excitement.
They care as much about your success as Monica does about Hilary. The Grand Opening featured drink specials of 25 cent drafts, and $1 wells,
which is absurd.
The Grand Opening featured a different band Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Why get your patrons drunk with cheap drinks, when you should be showing off
the features of the club, the highlights of the club and knocking out with
music, sound, lights, video and great food and service and hot looking servers?
How are 25 cent drinks all weekend, I mean Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
going to cover the costs of your advertising? Then to offer Wet T-shirt Contests, with $200 to the Winner and $100 to
second place, again, makes the club a "Smash Mouth" club with no possibility
of bringing in any upscale or even mainstream patrons.
And to add to their arrogance, they held the Wet T Shirt Contests at 8pm at
Night, rather than presenting them at Midnight or later, to keep whatever crowd they had drinking and eating and enjoying or at least trying to enjoy
themselves.
Why present a Different Band each night of your Grand Opening? Why not present the hottest local band with the biggest following and
present them for the first two nights, and then on Sunday present another
band with a huge local following. This club also threw in Karaoke on Saturday and Beer Girls from a beer
Company also.
The problem here is, they threw in everything but, the kitchen sink. This club needed to present a Grand Opening with consistency, quality,
excitement and Pop your eyes out Promotions. Karaoke? Who cares.........Beer Girls?
In the Community where this Club opened, the local Beer Girls have a reputation as not being that hot.
This Grand Opening is a mish mash of mud. It has no life, no excitement, no enticement, this is what a Club Owner or
Manager who has no clue does, when they decide to listen to everyone and have
no experience in creating a Grand Opening. This club has narrowed it's patron base so tight, it can look foreword to
Hard Rockin Men who drink cheap beer to patronize it. To place a Full Color Full Page ad in a Free Publication that comes out
Weekly, is another tremendous amount of $$$ spent unwisely.
Very few readers pick this publication up each week, it was a monthly and
the Publishers decided to go weekly, but the readers are not receptive to a
weekly publication such as this. Thus a full page ad is wasted advertising dollars. A Quarter of a page would have been sufficient, and the difference in cost
could have gone to a more viable marketing vehicle. The problem in this business is ego and arrogance.
Club Owners listen to radio sales people who don't give two beans about
them, just the buy...just the buy!!!
Club Owners listen to everybody who know nothing about running a club, and
then follow their advice and then end up with a club that never got off the
ground. To depend on patrons, whom for your Grand Opening you gave away your beer
and well, to come back and be loyal is absurd. To depend on patrons whom you spend $300 in prizes for a Wet T-shirt Contest
to come back frequently requires you to continue on this same path.
Why would anyone want to deal with what after the Hip Hop Crowd, is the
toughest nightclub crowd there is? Rock and Rollers are one tough bunch. Want to know what kind of a Crowd a club draws?
Go into both their Men's Room and their Ladies Room and check out the condition of the bathrooms.
This is the way I can assimilate what age, what behavior and what type of patron my clients are catering to.
Before you make mistakes, and spend money you don't need to, and listen to
everyone but the bouncer you just fired, do yourself a HUGE favor, call me. Why risk your hard work, your $$$ and your club or restaurant's image,
reputation and it's very survival by not calling in Professional Marketing
and Nightclub and Restaurant People, who know the biz inside out, rather than
gamble your entire concept on what you think you should do?
I see so many Operators that are so stubborn and allow themselves to lose
so much money because of their ill logic. This is the hospitality industry, you need to serve it better, treat them
better, dazzle them better, promote them better, present them better and most
of all keep them better.
Consistency is the key to success in this industry. Email me at RichUnger@promotingnightclubs.com or call me at 941-921-7027.
But, please don't place your ego over logic.....
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