Well, you’d have yourself a pretty unique and enticing promotional opportunity. Check out what Due Amici Bar & Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio are doing this month:

Simple, creative, romantic, different, gets them noticed.

If you serve wine in your bar or restaurant and I’m guessing that you do, then you should consider providing Wine Cards (see picture below) for your customers to remember both your establishment and the wine they enjoyed on their visit.

It won’t be the end of the world if you don’t provide it, but it’s just another example of an added touch that will help customers remember you the next time they are flicking through their wine book or thinking of a place to go out to eat.

The wine on the pictured wine card was fantastic by the way and went very well with the fillet mignon I enjoyed at Barcelona Restaurant in Columbus this weekend.

When I worked for the Yachts of Seabourn, one of the added touches we brought to the wine service was when a guest had finished a particularly expensive bottle of wine, we soaked the bottle in warm water until the label became easily peelable. We than pressed the label between two pieces of paper towel to dry it, before presenting it in a nice souvenir booklet with the details of the wine, the particular cruise it was enjoyed on and the date.

Nothing that would need a degree in rocket science for but a memorable touch nonetheless.

So here’s the thing…Every bar has beer, every bar has a cute bartender and every bar is going to attract at least a few customers purely because of the first two points.

But things are changing lately. Economic challenges mean that customers think twice before going out at night. Its harder to make a buck and the first thing that gets cut in tough times is the marketing budget.

The clever bar owners make sure that their customers do their marketing for them..How? Points of difference. That’s how.

Better service, cuter bartenders and CONVERSATION POINTS! I put that last point in capitals for a reason.

Have a look around your bar and ask yourself if there is anything interesting, offbeat or quirky that will get your customers talking when they meet friends tomorrow? Or even better, that they meet Tweet or blog about.

I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve shown these pictures to:

These are the restrooms in Betty’s Bar, Columbus, Ohio, one of the quirkiest, coolest, offbeat bars I have ever been to! And believe me when I say that the rest of the bar is as cool!

Betty’s Bar is the bar that I’ve heard talked about most while I’ve lived in Columbus and the decor has a lot to do with it. Luckily they also have great food and service to back it up. Take note Bar Owners! Let your customers do your marketing for you!