Nightclub marketing at the sharp end!
By John Hicks
Headline Promotions, Press & PR
Sometimes, if you want to promote your business, you just have to throw a shed load of money at a PR event.
Recently, a nightclub and sports venue wishing to re-invent itself, did just that. They hosted a show with Spike Edney and his SAS Band supported by an amazing array of stars – Paul Young, Madeline Bell, Jeff Scott Sotto and Tom Robinson.
The SAS band itself comprises some of the finest musicians from some of the greatest bands of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s from Genesis to Whitesnake and 10CC. Spike himself was Freddie Mercury’s keyboard player from “Queen” and performed at “Live Aid”.
The venue, The Academy Basingstoke, is creating a reputation as THE home of live music in the south of England. It’s current licence gives it a capacity of 580 but actually has sufficient space to expand to at least 1,200 and more. The owners have already some a lot of money refurbishing it but have exciting plans for 2007 – this is a huge venue and it will take time and investment. The niche market it is aiming at is the over 25’s on a night out. The nightclubs, themed bars and down-market pubs cater for the under 25’s but they bring the problems of binge drinking – fights, drugs and social disorder – with them.
But there is a problem for The Academy. Estate agents say that the three prime factors with buying and selling property are: location, location and location. All other factors are secondary.
The Academy is located at the back of an industrial estate down an uneven road on the outskirts of Basingstoke. Basingstoke itself is a brilliant location being strategically placed near to the main M3 and M4 motorways only twenty minutes from the M25. But being on an industrial estate does not create the ideal image. The cost of taxi fares across town will not help either.
Having said that, it isn’t in the town centre where all the fights and social problems are to be found at the end of the evening. Not that I want to leave you with the image that Basingstoke is any worse than many large towns – this is a social problem which affects British society and is one that will not be cured until a government finds the courage to put the minimum drinking age up to 21 – it is the under 21’s who are the problem!
So, from a marketing and PR point of view what is the prime objective for the venue? It is to encourage people to come and see what you have to offer and why they should travel out of the town centre for a night out. This is nightclub marketing at the sharp end!
The Academy has a vibrant programme of live music events as well as its core business of being a pool and snooker hall. This attracts a number of people and, as word of mouth spreads the message, the numbers are growing. But that is a slow process so they went for “big bang”.
Spike Edney, the SAS Band, Toyah Willcox, Paul Young, Madeline Bell, Chris Thompson, Jeff Scott Sotto, Tom Robinson is, by any definition, big bang! Big bucks too!
So, did it work? Yes it did. The media coverage was superb with radio and newspaper coverage being extensive. This created a buzz around town as people were talking about the event in coffee shops, McDonalds and in the shops. Staff at The Academy would have people come up to them in the street asking what was happening and people were phoning in for details whilst the website, www.academyclubs.com, was receiving massive numbers of hits every day.
We have an expression in the UK: “You have to speculate to accumulate”. Put simply, sometimes you must risk some money to try and secure a return in the long term. The Academy have put their money and energies into this event to put themselves on the map.
Luckily, the event planning and execution was superb. That was the biggest risk. The huge drawing power of the musicians was enough to attract people’s attention but it would have failed if the event was poorly organised and delivered – but it wasn’t.
Details - like having road signs on roundabouts for people out of town and car park attendants to direct people to parking spaces through to having enough staff on duty to keep the bars running smoothly and glasses off the dance floor – made this a memorable event.
Poor planning would have ruined this event but it didn’t happen that way and I am sure that the reinvigorated Academy Basingstoke will be a huge success.
I cannot wait for the next event but, from a sneaky look at their calendar of events for 2007, my highlights for next year are Jack Smink in February with his tribute to Elvis show, 80’s pop legends “Modern Romance” in June and the legendary country music star George Hamilton IV in September.
In the meantime, I have my memories of meeting Toyah, Paul Young and the lovely Madeline Bell, whom I remembered from “Blue Mink”, but whose stunning performance on the stage at The Academy will be etched on my memory for ever!
