Customer engagement, check; staff incentivised to upsell/innovate, check; a chance for the entire sector to come together for the greater good, check. TryJanuary is more than helping the industry, and the pub and bar trade in particular, combat the traditional January trading blues. It’s time to get on board with an initiative that is helping generate trading momentum that can be the foundation for a successful year.
You have to go back three years to find the gem of the idea for TryJanuary when Be At One launched its “adopt a bartender” marketing campaign – a quirky way to connect with its guests during the traditionally quiet January period. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be a great social vehicle and has generated a lot of traffic and sales for the group.
Fast forward to last January, and the same team comes up with a new marketing campaign – Try January, the thinking behind the new campaign, apart from highlighting the group’s range of cocktails - was to reclaim a month that was fast becoming known just as Dry January.
The campaign has since been championed further by M&C’s sister title The Publican’s Morning Advertiser, led by its drinks and content editor Jessica Mason. The thinking is that it should not be a time from abstaining completely from visiting pubs and bars but for experimenting with new drink and food. The result has seen countless influential multiple operators roll out #TryJanuary options spanning both the pub, bar and restaurant industry. This total continues to grow encompassing thousands of venues now as more people embrace the positive campaign to try new food and drink in social environments during the first month of the year, giving the nation a reason to claim back a once-considered dreary month and turn it into something experimental and fun. From M&B to MEATliquor and Punch to CAU, a large swathe of the industry has placed the initiative at the heart of their January marketing campaigns. Anecdotally the results have been a more engaged consumer and work force, which it is hoped will come through to company’s bottom lines come February.
A further positive is that this is one campaign that the whole industry can get behind, not just the on-trade. The debate around the virtue of having a Dry January are debated long and hard every year, the latest figures bandied about suggest two million people will be abstaining from alcohol this month. However, recently writing in the British Medical Journal, Ian Hamilton, a lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences at York University, said that just because Dry January is popular, it “does not mean it is effective” He said: “Alcohol Concern’s ambition is to alter people’s relationship with alcohol by encouraging us to reduce the amount we drink, not just for a month but for life. Unfortunately, this type of campaign has had no rigorous evaluation.”
TryJanuary, for me at least, is wider than the alcohol-health debate. Back to Be At One, the Piper-backed chain, recently reported its best December to date with like-for-like sales up 16% for the five weeks to 27 December, which included its first £1m net sales week. Co-founder Steve Locke told M&C: “A big driver of increased revenue has been our new cocktail menu that launched in November. We introduced 20 new cocktails, 10 of which are our new virtuous cocktails which feature in our Try January promotion. These virtuous drinks are lower in alcohol and contain healthier ingredients such as the Beetroot Retox which is made from Kamm & Sons, pomegranate juice, beetroot juice, raspberry puree and agave syrup.”
So it is timed to get the new staff incentivised and the more experienced employees re-energise, both front and back of house. For the consumer, there is a plethora of possibilities they can be introduced to: Never tried one of our dishes? Pick one of our more inventive plates for your lunch. Always go for the same favourite drink? Why not have a taste of one of the wonderful guest ales we have on tap or experiment with a different wine? Going dry? For those that are being virtuous we’ll have a wonderful range of coffees and guilt-free drinks for you to enjoy as well as plenty of wonderful seasonal dishes to re-fuel after your exercise regime.
In the process, you may discover a new customer base, generate a new revenue stream or unearth more talent in your current staff base. It’s worth a try at least.
