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Saintly Promotions
The Carousel Piano Bar & Grill Scores in NOLA
When Hank Jr. bellows his rhetorical call to arms, “Are you ready for
some football?” you definitely better be ready — to make a ton of cash,
if you’re a bar owner.
Executing the Plan
The Carousel Piano Bar & Grill, located in the Hotel Monteleone in
New Orleans started planning for the upcoming football season before
last season even ended.
“Once we get a schedule, our promotions are
planned for the first game and every game afterwards,” says Gary
Schwartz, director of food and beverage at Carousel. “Planning events
for the upcoming football season is always exciting because it keeps
our minds off of reconstruction.”
All of the Carousel events are done independently, similar to other
bars that are in close proximity to professional football teams, but
Schwartz and his staff use the rising popularity of the Saints to their
advantage.
“For the upcoming season, we are putting in new flat screens and placing a 60-inch on the wall,” says Schwartz.
Marching In
As the Saints have become a legitimate threat to their NFL opponents,
it’s just part of the picture as people around the country are
compelled by how the city has bounced back after Hurricane Katrina.
“Absolut Vodka took notice of the Saints and the people of New Orleans
and created a vodka blend specially for the city called ‘Absolut New
Orleans,’ with proceeds going to the recovery of the regions,” Schwartz
says. “They only created 60,000 cases, and it’s a one-time deal, so
once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Bartenders at the Carousel also have created a special drink for the Saints’ football season, but there’s more.
“Some of our regular events at the Carousel include radio shows and a
few warm-up sessions, along with oyster-eating contests prior to the
football games,” says Schwartz.
Instead of waiting for the first kickoff of the NFL season, Carousel
decided to get ahead of the game and start the planning early, recently
resulting in one of the biggest events its had. “The Tales of the
Cocktail event was a big deal because we had over 8,000 people attend
the event over a 5-day period,” Schwartz. “We had radio hosts doing
live broadcasts and brought in some of the best chefs throughout the
city.”
At the Carousel, football promos take months of planning.
“Our beverage committee and our marketing director, Andrea Thornton,
sit down and brainstorm on what promotions have and haven’t worked in
the past,” says Schwartz. “It’s important for us to do what is fun and
profitable for the staff and ownership.”
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