48,707 contacts collected. Pubs packed for themed events, and about 5 hours a week saved for the marketing director.
The challenge
The Tavern Group ran pubs people loved, in a brewpub market that has quadrupled since 2010.
The first gap was a list in bad shape. Paper forms were the only way to collect emails. Open rates were terrible.
A second challenge was ad hoc marketing. A small team had plenty of ideas but relied on tools that didn't scale.
The remaining issue was bad experiences found too late. Managers usually learned about an off day only when they read the negative review.
The solution
Create the data foundation: using the WiFi they already had. Marketing director Shannon Purkiss saw that the guest WiFi in every pub could capture emails. Adentro (formerly Zenreach) turned each Guest WiFi connection into a contact with visit history in Customer Data. The comment cards went away, and the list grew on its own.
Deliver the campaign: visit-based emails and event promotion. Email Marketing responded automatically to guest visits based on visit behavior. Shannon also used it to promote events. A Royal Wedding viewing party filled the pub at 6am. When The Pub became a finalist for best fish and chips in America, her emails asked customers to vote. After the win, she emailed for celebration events at every pub. "Every single pub was filled with people."
Deliver the campaign: catching bad experiences before they go online. Visits triggered emails inviting feedback. Happy guests clicked widgets that sent them to preferred review sites. Unhappy guests reached Shannon directly, and she often turned the experience around.
Read the outcome: tracking results. Shannon reports she can track results better with Adentro. The group's Walk-Through Rate™ ties emails to verified return visits.
Why the combination mattered
Guest WiFi supplied the list, Customer Data supplied visit context, Email Marketing handled event promotions and feedback requests, and Walk-Through Rate™ offered return-visit matching. The business reported packed events and time savings, but not a controlled revenue effect.
The results
- 48,707 contacts collected
- 7,670 reported under Walk-Through Rate™ (see OPEN)
- About 5 hours a week saved for the marketing director
- Award emails and events drove what Shannon called "a huge boost in sales for every location"