Takin' It To the Streets
The Role of Flyers in the Modern Marketing Mix 

As beneficial as text and e-mail marketing has become, most smart marketers still make sure to create a paper trail to their bars.
    The new wave of bar marketing technology hasn’t made flyers obsolete. Quite to the contrary, operators can take advice from marketing firms that have capitalized not only on tech tools but also on traditional flyers in as part of the marketing mix.

Street Legal Buzz
    Jennifer Kramer Williams, marketing director with Barmuda MMC, believes that flyers are still a productive method of promoting.
    “We do flyers for bands, big parties, and big special promotions,” Williams says. “Street teams are effective because people hand flyers to guests, and it provides a personal experience. “We recently opened up a live music club and we’re finding the flyers to be effective in promoting upcoming bands, because (the club is) close to a college campus and it’s a great way to give flyers to the college students.”
    Whether using street teams to hand out flyers or using an outside firm to create and distribute flyers, flyer campaigns can still be just as successful as electronic communications if done right. Part of doing them right is the distribution. Rum Runners USA utilizes an arrangement with a large print company to do high gloss and full color, strong-impact flyer pieces.
    “Our focus with flyers and handouts is both internal and external for the business,” says James Auerbach, vice president of Rum Runners USA. “We give flyers into the community to help drive people to the stores or businesses for the upcoming events. The one-on-one interaction with using flyers at an event is more powerful because it’s personal and more effective than using e-mail, which is often regarded as spam.”
    “With flyers, people are actually able to talk with the flyer distributor, ask questions, and get responses that may be available through an e-mail blast,” says Sean Saladino, director of operations for PK Graphics.

Back to Basics
    Using e-mails and other available promotional tools should be utilized, but remember to use traditional tools.
    “We feel that you need to use all methods of promoting,” Auerbach says. “If you have a good relationship with an apartment complex or manager, they will put a flyer into the mailbox of all new and old residents to promote your business.”
    Laura Pennino, founder of Pennino & Partners, suggests hiring students as interns to for a street team and also to pass out flyers in different businesses.
    “The flyers are important because they can be posted anywhere, whether it be windows or restrooms,” Pennino says, offering several suggestions for making the flyer appealing. “Make sure it’s a color that stands out. Also, postcards are great because they are dual purpose. They can be mailed out or passed out.”
    “By using flyers, it target-markets a specific clientele,” says Storm Bennett, president and CEO of Killerspots, a marketing firm offering marketing services ranging from audio production to flyers.

Take Care
    Williams cautions against over-useing flyers.
    “We used flyers for everything that we did, but they eventually lost effect because they were littered all over the bar,” she says. “It’s important to use everything. We do e-mail blasts and MySpace because it’s free, and everyone looks at it, but flyers are still just as effective.”                                NCB