Giving the Glass a Push
Martinis are the Consummate Cocktails for Upselling

The name Martini has become an all-encompassing appellation. Stretched to include a rainbow assortment of liqueurs, mixers, spirits and garnishes, it blankets the cocktail category –– when oftentimes the concoction is simply a drink in a specialized glass. This is not likely to change, so marketing Martinis has become something every bartender, operator and owner must do daily.

Publishing Your Product
    At 381 Main in Little Falls, N.J., General Manager Kristi Marinco spends a portion of her day during the slower hours at the bar working on her book. She and a few of the other staff members began to collect recipes for the book in a folder behind the bar, and as the stack grew, so did sales.
    “We are really pushing the book we are writing,” she says. “We can’t have all the Martinis listed at the bar because it would be too hard.”
    Upon publication, the book will contain several hundred of the concoctions she and other bartenders have created and perfected at the venue.
    “We have 24 on the regular menu,” Marinco says. “But every other day, we feature a new Martini that we don’t have on the menu. Altogether there are 381.”
    Marinco takes extra efforts to market many of the Martinis to the bar’s largest percentage of Martini drinkers.
    “I would say our biggest Martini drinkers are women
in their early 30s. The guys aren’t too easy to sell to,” she says. “Whether it is the color of the Martini or the glass, I don’t know.”

Retro-Night Rewards
    Targeting this age group heavily one night a week has worked well for the 125-person capacity space in the form of a promotion called Retro Night.
    “On Retro Night,” she says, “all of our Martinis have names like Josie and the Pussycats, Ghostbusters, Dynasty, Scarface and Tickle Me Elmo. These aren’t on the regular menu, but you can get them any night of the week upon request.”
    On this particular Thursday promotion, however, the retro Martinis are half price, so each patron can order a $10 Martini for $5, still served in a 12-ounce glass with a rock candy garnish.
    Further pushing signature Martinis, Marinco ordered sets of silver picture frames to be hung behind the bar. Each frame has a picture of the drink and a list of ingredients
    “The Prozac is probably our No. 1 seller,” she says. “People just like the name, and the Scarface sells well with the guys, since I think it is the only one they don’t feel stupid ordering.”
    “Honestly,” she says, “I think you just have to push Martinis. A lot of people come to the bar with no idea of what they want to order. We put sugar rims on our (Martinis), make them look good, and then people are enticed by them which makes them an easy sell.”       NCB