With so many different restaurants, pubs, and bars trying to get your customers’ attention, how can your hospitality marketing stand out in 2025? Well, we have a few ideas…
We have a cutting-edge in-house development team who love pushing the industry forward with innovative marcomms technology that both attracts, engages and delights our clients’ audiences while also driving further conversions and loyalty.
Depending on what the client is after, our big-brained developers can go as surface-level as a fun, cheeky use of augmented reality (AR) to make a campaign pop, or as in-depth as an entirely new app for seamless brand engagement and purchases – all without relying on external support, might we add.
So, no pressure, but how about using marcomms tech for your 2025 hospitality marketing plans? It can be as involved as you like, but one thing’s guaranteed: You’re about to be noticed.
Here are just a couple of fun examples of marcomms tech we’ve worked up:
Welcome to the world of Marcomms Tech ideas with our first creation: the augmented reality beer mat!
The AR Brew beer mat was something we created for the Birmingham Design Festival 2024. As a proud sponsor of the event, we wanted something fun and unique to throw into the BDF 2024 goody bags – and we landed on the AR beer mat.
This is where marketing, technology, and design converge to create something entirely new. This is the future – or more precisely, the present! - of marcomms tech and hospitality marketing.
How does an augmented reality beer mat work?
Allow us to enlighten you. The beermat has a QR code on which you can scan, making use of well-understood technology that is now available in almost every phone or tablet. On one side of the beer mat, point your camera at the QR code and our Brew promotion video will begin to play, giving the viewer a little dose of who we are and what we do.
However, on the other side is where all the action is happening. Flip the beer mat over and point your phone its way, then watch as a 3D Brew beer can appears before your very eyes, bouncing around as you try to touch it in real life.
Benefits of AR in hospitality marketing
Augmented reality has been around in some form for over a decade – or even two – by this point, but only a few brands are still using it to its fullest. Creating a marketing strategy with AR could help you to:
- Create branded experiences – moments that capture attention and increase brand recall and recognition.
- Test new products – AR is increasingly being used in fashion and home decor to see how something will look before purchase.
- Reduce returns – As a result of this increased visibility pre-purchase, AR is also reducing the number of products returned.
- Increase purchases – With less anxiety around purchases, people are buying more*. Win-win!
*Find out more: Thanks to our Pints & Profits: Brew’s Pub and Bar Report 2024, we also discovered that pubgoers are spending more per pub visit than they used to. Let’s see how we can make sure that money is going your way...
How could you use an AR beer mat in your marketing?
Think about it: Someone is waiting at the bar for their friend, phone in hand, and they notice that your beer mat has a QR code on it. They’ve got time to kill, so they scan it and watch your latest promotion, whether that be a new beer, an upcoming event, or your new loyalty programme. They’ll remember this when they’re next thinking about visiting the pub.
Oh, it flips over? An AR beer mat?! Definitely trying that. Your latest promotion pops up, jiggling around the bar and bringing a smile to their face. Not only will they remember this, but they’re definitely showing their friends – and their social media followers.
So, what first seemed like a bit of fun has quickly become a powerful tool in creating a memorable brand experience with engaged, loyal customers. Here are a few more ideas...
New product launches
Promote new beers, cocktails, and seasonal dishes in AR, allowing guests to see and even interact with them before they buy.
Pub games
AR can be used for events and games that bring people to your pub. Imagine hiding a selection of AR footballs around your venue for the World Cup, or one single AR cocktail that people need to find for a free drink – the only limit is your imagination.
AR menus
Go the extra step and 3D scan your menu items, then delight diners as their menu comes to life on the table before them. It’ll certainly be the most fun they’ve ever had with a menu, and it allows them to get a good look at a dish before they order it!
Hospitality Marketing Gamification
Thought technology was just for your customers? You’d be wrong! You can also use technology to upskill your team members in a way that they’ll actually remember. For example, just take a look at our gamification – meaning it has engaging “game” elements – of hospitality marketing training.
At our extravagant Brew Conference, we revealed an interactive quiz that was first used to celebrate the expertise and people of our digital marketing agency before being repurposed for Mitchells & Butlers, one of our long-standing hospitality clients.
You might recognise them if you’ve read about our successful paid social media strategy for their premium brands (Miller & Carter, Vintage Inns, and Premium Country Pubs).
By using this same tech, we created an interactive Content Creator’s Training Day for the social media leads of Mitchells & Butlers brands. This meant that the training was so much more than a series of wordy PowerPoint slides – it was a combination of key trends, latest tools, and an exciting quiz element that helped the team members to retain the knowledge they’d been learning.
At the same time, it showed the client that Brew was on top of in-house marcomms tech that could be utilised for other areas of their business… should they be interested in such a thing.
Benefits of gamification in hospitality marketing
By making it more fun to engage with your brand, adding an element of gamification to your marketing strategy can help you:
- Collect more user data – which can be used to inspire future strategies.
- Build brand awareness – you're doing something that your competitors aren’t.
- Boost online engagement – increasing your reach and impressions.
- Advertise a new product or service.
- Incentivise user-generated content (UGC) - with automated functions and giveaways.
- Increase conversions – the more a person engages with your brand, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
- Train team members in an interesting, memorable way!
How could gamification help your pub?
Well, for starters, it could be used to train new hires in company rules and procedures, or it could be used to train an entire team in new products and services.
Or, it could make for the perfect pub quiz!
Imagine having an online platform that you throw your pub quiz questions into each week – a platform that also gives people a place to play the pub quiz and shows the winner at the end without the hassle of printing out paper sheets and counting the correct answers yourself.
Think about anything you might expect at a classic British pub and then see how modern tools can make it so much easier and more engaging for people to join in!
Summary
With just two examples of unique marcomm tech for 2025, aren’t you suddenly finding yourself filled with new ideas for your 2025 marketing plans?
Taking your first step into the world of AR or tech-based marketing can be a bit daunting at first, but that’s where we come in. Our team at Brew love using the latest technology to entice and convert customers, and it’s all backed by over 15 years of experience working alongside the biggest pub, bar, and restaurant brands in the UK.
Not even sure where to start? Let’s get together to discuss your brand, audience, and your objectives for the year. With this info, we can put together a list of ideas for you to have a think about – all of the benefits of marcomms tech without any of the hard work!
If you need any extra help with your 2025 strategy, check out these 2025 hospitality marketing key dates! Make sure you’re part of the online conversations as they happen and keep those eyes looking your way.
Marcomms Tech 2025 FAQs
What is AR in marketing?
AR stands for “Augmented Reality.” In marketing, AR can be used to enhance campaigns with immersive experiences and designs, allowing for a more engaging way of presenting – or even letting customers engage with – new products, services, or brand information.
What is AR strategy?
AR strategy simply means integrating augmented reality into your hospitality marketing strategy. As as method that is somewhat more involved than the usual email or social post, it requires careful planning, relevance and purpose to be worth doing.
For example, including a Brew AR beer mat in the goody bags for the Birmingham Design Festival 2024 allowed us to show off our digital marketing agency in a unique, tech-driven way while also increasing brand awareness.
What does gamification mean in marketing?
“Gamification” refers to the inclusion of game-like elements in a marketing strategy. It utilises design and tech elements from games to attract, engage, and retain customers.
For example, turning employee training into a fun quiz or a prize draw into a browser-based game – which we’ve done before! – can increase the amount of time someone spends with your brand, increasing the potential for purchase.
Is gamification the future of marketing?
We’d say… yes! As marcomm tech progresses, it is becoming easier and more cost-effective to gamify elements of your marketing strategy. Even at its current level, it is a powerful tactic that has been proven to increase brand awareness, conversion rates, and loyalty.
Adam Cox
Adam is Brew’s technical director, and he keeps our agency at the forefront of tech in hospitality marketing, from client-pleasing platforms to efficiency-driving automation.
