Dear Liquor Company - Gentlemen`s Club Expo

Dear
Liquor
Company
... you never call
... you never write
John Neilson has been a marketing, promotions
and operations executive in both the hospitality industry and the adult nightclub industry for more than 20
years and has worked with some of the industry’s
top adult nightclubs across the country, with an
emphasis on the New York and South Miami
markets. He is currently
President of the Scores
Holding Company
brand. One of Neilson’s
fortes is understanding the intricacies of
the liquor industry and
maximizing the relationship between the liquor
brands, the wholesalers
and distributors, and the
individual clubs and club
chains.
Neilson played a key
role in assisting ED Publications to bring Belvedere
Vodka, with the help of
Southern Wine & Spirits, to
the adult nightclub industry
table. Belvedere has announced a major national
promotion campaign (see
article on pages 20-24)
targeting the adult nightclub
market, including a Title Sponsorship at the 2008 Gentlemen’s
Club Owners Expo in Las Vegas.
Despite his success with market specific liquor brand promotions in key cities like New York, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Las
Vegas, Neilson admits that it is often an uphill battle to educate
liquor brands, and even local distributors, about the incredible
buying power of the adult nightclub market.
What follows is an “Open Letter,” if you will, to the liquor
industry reiterating how lucrative adult nightclub business can
be for liquor, beer, wine and champagne brands, and steps they
can take to increase their product sales in our market.
by John Neilson
I
am going to state the obvious here, which is that the
gentlemen’s club industry is the ideal market in which
to promote and increase sales of specific liquor brands,
both established brands and particularly brands that are
new to the market. The 2,500-plus adult nightclubs in the U.S.
and the one million consumers a day in those clubs, and the
250,000 entertainers working daily in those clubs, are potential customers for all liquor brands, as well as beer, wine, and
champagne brands.
Gentlemen’s clubs are the one segment of the restaurant,
bar and hospitality industry that do not need to stock a wide
range of premium brands for their customers—the customer
is visiting the club because of the entertainment being offered
in that club and not because of the liquor brands sold in the
club. In addition the adult nightclub atmosphere is designed
to encourage customers and entertainers to talk to each other
which allows the entertainers to become sales people, as well
as being consumers, of the liquor brand being promoted.
Add in the fact that adult nightclubs open earlier and close
later than most nightclubs and so have more hours of liquorselling time; the fact that adult nightclubs sell a higher percentage of high-end liquor, beer, wine and champagne than other
nightclubs; the fact that adult nightclub customers are used to
paying higher drink prices than other club customers; the fact
that adult nightclubs reach the most desirable demographic of
spenders, ages 21 to 50; and the fact that adult club owners
and operators are very promotions-friendly, and you have a
market that should be at the top of every liquor brand’s “wemust-get-them” list.
I think most liquor brands are vaguely aware of the buying power of our industry, but because of its erotic nature they
don’t quite give our industry its full due. Do those companies
realize that there are three publicly-traded adult nightclub
“I think most liquor brands are vaguely aware of the buying power of our
industry, but because of its erotic nature they don’t quite give our industry
its full due. Do those companies realize that there are two publicly-traded
adult nightclub chains on NASDAQ that have a combined $500 million evaluation on Wall Street ... that there is a club chain with over 80 nightclubs
... that even a small gentlemen’s club will sell twice as much liquor as a
regular nightclub down the street which is twice as large in capacity?”
—John Neilson
“Based on my experience, adult club owners will give exclusive placement to any
specific liquor brand if the promotion package is exciting; if it will increase the
business in their clubs; and if they are offered the right incentives. The right
incentives are national pricing, discounts for volume purchases and legitimate
promotional/advertising dollars available for clubs participating in the promotion.”
—John Neilson
chains on NASDAQ that have a combined $500 million evaluation on Wall Street (Scores Holding, Ricks Cabaret and PTs
Showclubs/VCGH) Do those companies realize there is one
club chain with over 80 nightclubs (Deja Vu)? Do those companies realize that even a small gentlemen’s club will sell twice
as much liquor as a regular nightclub down the street which is
twice as large in capacity?
When the management of an adult nightclub gets behind a
specific liquor brand promotion, a very substantial increase in
sales of that brand is pretty much guaranteed. This type of promotional program is a “grass roots” program that is designed to
encourage the decision-makers in each adult nightclub to give
preferred placement to brands thereby providing a very significant increase in sales of those brands within our industry. At
Scores in New York we launched several liquor brands, and the
brand distributors & importers were astonished at not only how
receptive our club managers and entertainers were to assist
with the promotion but also by how well the brand was received
by the customers.
Brand promotions can be designed to create brand awareness and can be structured as annual, quarterly or monthly
programs and can be structured on a national or regional basis.
There are a lot of options, but a national promotion will get the
most bang for the buck.
When you look at the cost to a liquor company of advertising, marketing and promoting their brands in traditional media
publications and through traditional sales people on the ground,
the cost can be prohibitive and there is no guarantee that any
direct sales will be generated from those advertising, marketing
and promotional campaigns.
In today’s business environment where it is increasingly difficult for liquor brands to service accounts with sales people;
to build personal relationships with these business owners
and their management teams; to compete effectively in a marketplace full of competing brands; and to find cost effective
methods of marketing and advertising your liquor brands to the
consumers, it makes sense to use the adult nightclub industry’s
own resources and communications channels to reach adult
nightclub owners and operators.
It’s interesting to me how many liquor brands are surprised
to learn that our industry has its own national trade magazine,
ED Club Bulletin, and its own national convention and tradeshow, the Annual Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo—and has
had these two conduits to the decision-makers of the multi-billion-dollar adult nightclub industry for almost 20 years. It is an
incredible resource—direct access to adult club owners—that
most of them have not tapped.
By utilizing ED Club Bulletin and the Annual Gentlemen’s
Club Owners Expo as an advertising, marketing and promotions partner, liquor brands will have a very successful and
experienced team to promote the brand to club owners. But
if a liquor brand wants to make a splash in our industry, those
assets need to be part of an overall campaign.
For example, if a liquor brand promotion was to take place in
the 2,500-plus gentlemen’s clubs for 30 days and if just the
“The funny thing is that whether they know it or not, whether they want to be
or not, the liquor companies are our partners. On a daily basis. To the tune of
billions of dollars. It’s time that they confidently and unabashedly start walking
through our front doors instead of just delivering product through our back doors.”
—John Neilson
continued from page 27
250,000 entertainers working
in the clubs daily only consumed one shot/or cocktail of
the brand being promoted, this
would equate to a minimum
of 42,000 (6 pack) cases or
21,000 (12 pack) cases sold
during the 30 day promotion. And that’s just what the
entertainers consumed—that
doesn’t include customer consumption. Factor in the customers, and what does that do
to the equation? Double the
number of cases sold, triple it,
quadruple it?
John Neilson speaking on
These consumption numa panel at the Annual
bers may seem extreme but this
Gentlemen’s Club Expo
is the undisputed consumption
power of the gentlemen’s club
industry to generate additional
beverage sales for both established brands and new brands.
And those “cases-sold” numbers above are based on a promotion where the club owner simply makes the entertainers and
customers aware of the brand, having the DJ pitch the brand,
having the entertainers suggest the brand, etc.
Take the national promotion that Belvedere Vodka is launching
in the adult nightclub industry, for example. There is no question
in my mind that by working with ED, by attending the Expo, by
hiring Marketing Magic (a well known national advertising and
promotions agency based in Florida) to oversee the national
campaign, they will increase sales of Belvedere substantially and
will also see the knock-on effect of directly promoting the brand
to over one million consumers daily.
Having an in-house division or an outside agency such as
Marketing Magic provides:
1. Creative services and promotion materials.
2. Market-specific media buying.
3. Full interactive design, hosting and integration of promotional programs.
4. On-site Event marketing.
6. Management of in-club promotions.
7. Management of in-club advertising.
8. Management of brand guerrilla marketing.
Based on our research we have established that there are
2,500-plus gentlemen’s clubs in the U.S. and whether it’s vodka,
tequila, rum, scotch or beer, wine, champagne, energy drinks or
bottled water, a national promotion targeting adult nightclub sales
can move many thousands of cases of product over and above a
brand’s projected sales.
Based on the projected consumption numbers we have
received from our contacts and research in the industry, and
based on offering club owners the right promotional programs,
we believe that a national promotion tied in with ED Club Bulletin
and the Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo can greatly increase any
brand’s projected annual sales.
Based on my experience, adult club owners will enthusiastically work with any brand if the promotion package is exciting,
help increase the business in their clubs and are rewarded for
their efforts.
If a liquor brand wisely decides to target the adult nightclub
industry, these are some steps I would suggest they take:
1. Provide all participants in the promotion with drinks and
cocktail menus, champagne lists and bottle menus.
2. Provide smaller clubs with Internet splash pages to promote their clubs. You would be surprised how many smaller
clubs don’t have websites.
3. A brand kick-off promotion in the club at the start of the
promotion and a commitment by the brand to sponsor traditional promotional parties on such nights as Valentine’s Day,
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl, World Series,
March Madness, etc. As part of these promotions, the brand
should provide an advertising budget (radio and/or print media) to
each club with other promotional print materials to assist the club
owner to successfully promote brand awareness in their club.
4. Provide banners and/or posters to be displayed in the
clubs to promote the brand.
5. Promote the promotional campaign in ED Club Bulletin
and the regional adult night-life publications through advertising
and editorial coverage; by being a Title Sponsor at the Annual
Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo; and by sending out a printed
brochure/promotional piece to all club owners and club general managers advising them of the promotion, its benefits and
rewards.
As an industry innovator and professional working in the adult
entertainment club industry since 1990 and in the hospitality/
nightclub industry in both the United States and Europe since
1977, I firmly believe that the strength of any industry comes
from everyone’s
participation and the
support we give one
another.
The funny thing
is that whether they
know it or not, whether they want to be or
not, the liquor companies are our partners.
On a daily basis. To
the tune of billions of
dollars. It’s time that
they confidently and
unabashedly start
walking through our
front doors instead of
just delivering product through our back
doors.