Eastern Cuisine - Theme Night Tactics
Theme nights can help increase footfall into your pub and also encourage return visits. Tilda Foodservice offers hints on how to set them up:
Planning the event:
Decide if it is going to be a sit-down meal or a buffet. Do the homework. For example, is live entertainment needed and are you targeting locals or diners from further afield?
Ask your suppliers for help:
Contact your main suppliers. They may be able to provide free products or promotional material. For example, Tilda has a theme kit containing posters, tent cards, bunting and menu flyers. Your suppliers could help you decide what type of theme night you run. Any free product will ultimately reduce the cost of running an event.
Ask local organisations for support:
Consider hosting an auction and inviting local sports teams to supply signed merchandise, which always goes down well. You may want to consider inviting a well-known local personality - like a TV news reader - to host the auction/raffle.
Link to a charity:
Donating some of the money raised from the theme night to your chosen charity can encourage more people to attend. It can also help when publicising the event.
Contact your local media:
Advertising in local media can be surprisingly cheap and you may get discounted rates if you tell them it's for charity. Remember to ask whether they have a restaurant or food page where people will be looking for ideas for where to dine out. Suppliers may also contribute to or fund this advertising in return for inclusion of their logo. Write a press release about what you've got planned. Remember to include the name of your pub, address, the theme, special offers, the date of the event/s, details of any charity if applicable and a contact number so that people can book a table.
Advertise the night inside your outlet:
Your regulars will also be interested, so put up posters, have tent cards on the tables and perhaps put a note on menus.
Authentic decoration:
Tablecloths, lighting and music can all help create an atmosphere.
