Nicholson’s pubs go digital for ‘gin o’clock’ festival

Nicholsons-Gin-Festival-2016-2Mitchells & Butlers’ pub chain Nicholson’s is tapping into its digital strategy once more to mark 140 years of British gin heritage with a summer of gin tasting as part of a wider strategy to gain customer insights.
Looking to drive footfall through the Nicholson’s app and acquire new customers, the Nicholson’s Gin Festival, running until August 20, will give consumers the chance to celebrate and enjoy the best craft gins from around the globe.
Through a partnership with Diageo gin brand, Tanqueray, and digital out-of-home advertising provider, Live Poster, Nicholson’s will be driving customer acquisition through the promotion, powered by Eagle Eye, the SaaS technology company that validates and redeems promotions in real-time.
The poster will go live in areas where footfall is low to push consumers into the right pubs and the real-time live element means this can change throughout the festival, capturing different areas and audiences, through the use of Raspberry Pi technology.
Once they have seen the live Tanqueray poster, consumers will be encouraged to text in a keyword to receive a promotional code along with a URL to the Nicholson’s pub finder. Consumers will then be urged to register for the app and join the Gin Festival activity.
Registered app users will have access to a special ‘Gin Festival’ stamp card. After the first visit users will be entered into a prize draw to win a tour around Plymouth Gin’s Black Friars Distillery in Plymouth. Once all 8 stamps have been filled, users will receive a promotion in their digital wallet for a 3rd off food.
Eagle Eye’s AIR platform will also be able Nicholson’s to collect customer data based on their engagement and preferences. This will help inform future marketing campaigns and enable the brand to reach customers with tailored content.
Nicholson’s marketing manager Annette Middleton said: “We’re committed to giving something back to our customers and the Gin Festival is a great opportunity to do that, where we are offering a range of 31 different gins and celebrating our gin heritage with them. It’s important that we can reach our customers with the right offers at the right time and, through our work with Eagle Eye, we’re gaining a better appreciation of what works every day.
“Running the two activities in tandem means we can drive new and existing footfall onsite and increase awareness around the app. Using Eagle Eye also means that we can track those who have requested the Tanqueray promotion and consequently redeemed, in real-time, allowing us to encourage customers to download the app whilst onsite.”

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