The Bar Blogger

When businesses first put signs outside their door, they had a couple of goals in mind:

1. That passers-by would read what was written on the sign
2. That these people would then become customers based on what the sign was offering.

The first sign must have been a surprise to potential customers! Such a novelty!

But things have changed considerably from those days (whenever they were!) and we are now bombarded with advertising from every angle: radio, TV, internet ads, email, text messages, twitter, in the middle of movies, roadside signs, newspapers, beermats, glassware, etc to the point where we have now become blinkered to the messages being shot at us from every direction.

Our tolerance for advertising has lessened and it is taking more creative methods to get us to pay attention. With that in mind, what is your advertising saying that sets you apart? Are your methods creative and thought out or do you follow the same well worn path as every other bar or restaurant?

One area to consider is the signage you put up outside your bar or restaurant to entice customers in. Before I go on, I am going to take for granted that your spelling and grammar is correct….

1. Be eye catching and colorful. Don’t blend in with the surroundings. Stand Out!
2. Don’t write a long paragraph in a tiny font. Use short snappy phrases like: “Fresh fish caught this morning”
3. Avoid phrases like “Bar Food Served All Day”. It is neither informative nor enticing. I assume by now 90% of bars serve food anyway so be different.
4. Instead of the usual “Vacancies” sign, why not try something like: “For you, we’ll always have a room”
5. Be a talking point. Following up from point no.3, instead of offering “Bar Food” on your sign, offer “The biggest burgers you’ve ever seen” or “beer so cold you’ll get a headache”. If it’s not different or catchy, it won’t be talked about.

Any other suggestions?

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I like to think that I can weigh up several solutions to a probelm before making a decision without relying on “the way it’s always been done” . I haven’t always questioned the status quo though.

I think I can pinpoint when that change took place. I still remember that afternoon when a simple conversation with a french tourist made me think differently.

I was an assistant bar manager in a hotel in Galway, Ireland about ten years ago when I struck up a conversation with a group of French tourists who were full of questions about the area.

One of the tourists asked me about a sign he had seen that day while driving through the countryside. The sign (pictured above  left) said “Danger: Accident Black Spot”. He wanted to know what it meant. I explained that this was a stretch of road that was particularly prone to accidents due to the layout and general visibility.

I had barely finished explaining when the French tourist asked a simple question that changed the way I think: “Why don’t they fix the road?”!

I paused for a second, thought about his question, then laughed as the reality hit me! Of course! Why DON’T they fix the road? Is it sufficient to acknowledge that a higher frequency of casualties and fatalities result from this stretch of road?

Of course not. Is a sign enough to prevent them? Not at all. Yet, everywhere you travel around the country roads in Ireland, you’ll see these signs. Why? Because it is much easier to erect a sign than to make a conscious and planned effort to fix the problem. I’m sure the sign REDUCES the number of accidents but is that any consolation to the families of those injured on this stretch of road? Hardly.

So what are the accident black spots in your business? What sign are you erecting in the hope that the problem will go away?

Is it time to fix that road that has been causing problems for you, your staff and maybe your family?

To paraphrase a former American President: “Mr. Business Owner, Tear Down That Sign…”

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