Free Hospitality Marketing Offered for the DesignMyNight 100
In the lead up to removal of social distancing in England on 21st June, and for the first time in its 11-year history, DesignMyNight (part of Access Hospitality) is giving away free marketing to aid the recovery of the hospitality industry.
During an interview with Talk Radio in mid-April, UK Hospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls reported that the welcome back of outdoor spaces for hospitality in England would see around “30% of pubs, bars and restaurants reopening”. Due to the limited space and general running costs, the difficulty of operating profitably was highlighted by many operators, with Nicholls commenting that “even those that can reopen, we know it’s going to just be 20% of their normal revenues. They need to get to 70% to break even, so this is going to be a loss-making business for a period of time.”
It has been repeated like a broken record that hospitality has been one of the hardest hit sectors throughout the pandemic and another knock-on effect in the lead-up to the June reopening is marketing spend. IPA Bellwether completed a survey on the first quarter of 2021, which highlighted a further decline in available marketing budgets in the UK. It has been estimated by UK Hospitality that the pandemic cost the UK hospitality sector £200m a day in 2020 and CBS Market Watch reports that “historically, PR, marketing and advertising budgets are the first to be cut” during an economic crisis.
To give back to those venues that need it most, DesignMyNight is - for the first time in its 11-year history - offering free marketing on the website that covers 20+ cities. Any venue, pub, restaurant or club residing in the UK who have never worked with the brand before can apply for the opportunity, with the 100 winners picked at random. This is an opportunity for those venues who cannot afford marketing spend at this time, and who have had their budgets slashed. It is a great opportunity to get a leg up fast and to benefit from high-traffic channel inclusions and the 3.5 million users who visit the site monthly.
Katie Kirwan, Head of Content and Website at DesignMyNight comments that “the last 12 months we've watched the venues we love, care, and write about daily in turmoil as they've been batted about by reopening procedures, delivery changes and endless attempts to get back to business. We thought it only right that we kept the compassion we love in our industry going by offering up this free opportunity to those that need it most, especially when we feel the voice we have on our platform is so strong. I'm so excited to support these sites, get to know their needs better, and hopefully bring about some promotion that can often be unaffordable to most.”
Henry Seddon, Managing Director of Access Hospitality, parent company of DesignMyNight added “This is a fantastic initiative that offers practical marketing support to the venues that need it most. With income decimated over the last year, having a presence on DesignMyNight, could be a lifeline for venues emerging out of lockdown with few reserves left as it will provide visibility to many thousands of potential customers.
“DesignMyNight is the latest support we have been able to offer the sector over the last year and I would encourage every eligible business to apply. Previous support has ranged from product enhancements to help manage furlough payments, development of delivery and click and collect services, track and trace technology within Access Collins through to provision of reopening guides and a series of webinars and checklists covering all aspects of trading and employee welfare.”
Terms and conditions for the free marketing at DesignMyNight apply.
Applications can be filled in the following link and the final deadline is 9th May:
