Beverage Marketing: Selling the Bar
Beverage marketing at its best entices guests and gives them a reason to stay for a while.
By Derek Gale, Senior Editor -- Hotels, 10/31/2009 11:00:00 PM
Putting a 300-pound block of ice in the middle of a bar is not subtle. But then again, nothing about Drinkshop in the new W Atlanta-Downtown is.
“As you come up to the space, if you look behind the bar, you can tell something very different is going on,” says David Tetens, director of bar development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, who developed the concept in partnership with New York-based master mixologist Sasha Petraske.
Besides the big block of ice, there are glass-shielded “mise en place inserts”—the fashion model version of garnish trays—and a back bar composed of freezers to keep bottles and glassware frozen.
The bar itself is deep, offering substantial surface area, and there is ample room behind it for the bartenders to prepare the hand-crafted beverages. There is also a communal cocktail table running the length of the lounge area.
The space is visually interesting, so once a guest is near, he or she is easily drawn in, and given the show inside—including a visible prep area where ice is chopped (many of the specialty cocktails are made with ice chipped off the big block) or fruit is juiced à la minute—the guest is likely to stick around a while.
But how does the venue guests in the vicinity given its second-floor location?
“It’s part of the pre-stay e-mail” that goes out, Tetens notes. And in addition to having a place on the hotel’s Web site, Drinkshop already has more than 250 fans on Facebook. Add in some positive press and buzz around talented bartenders and you have a recipe for traffic.
Still, the venue is adding signage within the hotel to ensure guests stop in. “We didn’t go with that originally, but it’s a bit of a difficult space to find on the second floor, so we’re putting in something more elaborate,” Tetens says.
Once inside, guests get the best of the bar: fresh fruit and juices, homemade bitters and simple syrup, six different types of ice and the coldest drinks in town.
“All of our glassware must be frozen for us to use it, and to keep the spirits cold, we are constantly alternating the well—one is freezing in the freezers while we are using the other, and we swap them every 30 minutes,” Tetens explains. “There is no soda gun—we use cold bottles or even cans because cans keep it colder.”
Bottle service also is offered, with bottles frozen in their own cylinders of ice, frozen glasses, and fresh-made mixers such as strawberry lemonade, spicy homemade ginger ale and raspberry-rickey soda.
Entertain & Educate
In creating its new bar, the InterContinental Montréal wanted to come up with a concept that would have a story to tell, says General Manager Bernard Chênevert. By choosing to focus on absinthe, there is plenty to talk about.
“Absinthe has a lot of story and mystique around it,” Chênevert notes. “People will be attracted with a new concept and a new liquor that is not really known in the marketplace. And it will attract from within the local community, which is our main goal.”
The story and local angle starts with the name of the new bar: Sarah B., which comes from Sarah Bernhardt, the queen of French tragedy, described by Victor Hugo as the “golden voice” of the 19th century. Bernhardt’s travels brought her to Québec in 1880, where she gave a memorable performance in the auditorium of the historic Nordheimer Building. Since her death, it is said that her spirit still roams the site, which today is part of the InterContinental Montréal.
This tale ties in with the mystic qualities and supposed hallucinogenic visions that surround absinthe.
The thread picks up with the bar’s hip 19th century décor, including Murano chandeliers, green velvet banquettes and curtains, and absinthe bottles and fountains prominently placed on the bar and between the tables.
By displaying the different bottles and fountains front and center, “people are intrigued by what it is, and we can introduce it, explain that it was illegal, and tell its story,” Chênevert says.
Such placement is also functional—staff can simply bring the glass, the spoon that goes over it, water and the cube of sugar, and the drink is easily prepared. “There’s no hassle for us because the mise en place is done—it’s simple and quick,” Chênevert says.
“We’re really trying to make sure to merchandise our products well to generate more revenue,” Chênevert says. “We said to ourselves, maybe 3% to 4% of our entire revenues will come directly from absinthe, and it turns out more than 25% of our total revenues come from absinthe, which is pretty good.”
Part of this can be attributed to the list of specialty cocktails made with absinthe, designed to cater to guests for whom the spirit on its own may be too strong.
Thanks to the bar’s prime location next to the hotel’s front desk and its open entryway, everybody checking in cannot help but notice the venue. “People are almost going into the bar to go to the elevators,” Chênevert notes.
“So people are stopping by and having a drink with their luggage, and then continuing on the route to go to their rooms.”
Still, to drive even more traffic, there is collateral in the elevators, a dedicated Web site at two different non-hotel URLs, and a partnership with a lingerie shop called La Fee Verte (The Green Fairy—another name for absinthe).
And last month, the hotel began a promotion involving guestroom keycards to ensure that hotel guests tried absinthe—something that may be extended, Chênevert says.
“People are raving and bringing people back,” he says. “Our bar has never been so popular.”
Direct comments to: derek.gale@reedbusiness.com
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