6 minute read
EVENTS: ONCE UPON A THEME
Once upon a theme
Taking advantage of its large format and landholding, Camden Valley Inn has begun doing all-encompassing themed campaigns twice a year that are making it a destination pub.
ACROSS A six-week period in June and July, Camden Valley Inn in Sydney’s south-west launched a ‘Land of Oz’ campaign, where the mostly outdoor pub was decorated throughout. A yellow brick road path was painted throughout the venue’s courtyard, and large displays were created throughout so that patrons could have photo opportunities with The Tinman, The Cowardly Lion and The Scarecrow. There were also special drinks offers, like themed hot chocolates and a Good Witch cocktail jug, plus a coffee cart, and a cart selling lollipops and other trinkets.
Events were also held throughout the six-week campaign – some were aimed at families during the school holiday period, including Dorothy and Glinda meet and greets, an Aunty Em’s farm petting zoo, visits from Oz the Magician and a Dorothy Disco. For the adults, there was also a Dinner in Emerald City event, with a two-course meal, live music playing and a wandering illusionist.
The best thing about the people we’ve got working on these campaigns is that we will constantly adapt and change. We don’t expect everything to be copy and paste.
-Kayla Seeney, Camden Valley Inn
After the success of the Land of Oz campaign, the Lewis Leisure pub is now running ‘A Country Christmas’ campaign, with the pub decked out in yuletide cheer. There are daily snow flurries occurring at the pub, plus gingerbread house workshops, an outdoor family movie night with a screening of The Grinch, Twilight Christmas Markets and Christmas Carols.
Camden Valley Inn general manager Kayla Seeney said these themed campaigns were something the venue had been planning in doing for years, but after the pub underwent a massive renovation in 2019, the team began testing the waters with smaller events to see the appetite for it.
“We started with much smaller scale stuff, and have been building up to it. And then it was really a search for us in finding the right people and the right brands that we can associate with and help us execute our plans,” explained Seeney.
A smaller, more low-key Christmas set-up last year that did well gave the team the green light to push ahead with larger scale campaigns.
Courtney Schweitzer, Camden Valley Inn’s social media and marketing manager said that a big driver for executing these massive themed campaigns was to drive new visitors to the pub, and to make it a destination pub that people would travel to visit.
“A big part of why we do the campaigns is really to put us on the map. We wanted to be that destination venue. So after Christmas last year, and just putting in that small campaign, we were able to see growth in our business, both through our social platforms as well so many new faces in the pub, not just the locals,” said Schweitzer.
The other driver was to create something in western Sydney that you would normally only find closer to the CBD.
“We want to cater to our locals too. Because obviously our community is a big part of it as well. For everyone who’s out in western Sydney, we don’t have as much fun stuff happening out here. You’re always having to go into the CBD. So my driver is also just bringing stuff out here that’s accessible, and affordable for people to go to and enjoy,” said Seeney.
Planning and execution
Both the Land of Oz and A Country Christmas campaigns have several elements to them, beyond the high-level decoration of the venue. Looking to drive mid-week trade, each campaign has associated daily deals mid-week, like kids eating free on Mondays after 5pm, a voucher hunt on Tuesdays, a Christmas cocktail tree drink deal on Wednesdays and more. There are also special F&B specials. For the Christmas campaign, a wreath dessert board has been created and Christmas mimosas are on the menu. There are also candy and food carts.
A packed activity program is also a key component of these campaigns. Both campaigns has a slew of free activities for the kids, such as gingerbread house workshop and a Christmas wreath workshop. Then there are the larger events like the Twilight Markets with several local vendors, and the open-air Christmas Carols.
With so many moving parts, the Camden Valley Inn team has partnered with a local events company to make the campaigns come to life.
“We collaborate with a local events business on the theme, what we’re doing and then as well how that will be executed,” explained Schweitzer.
Aligning with brands is also a key component. For the Christmas campaign, the pub team has collaborated with a lot of smaller vendors, such as Manly’s Butter Boy Bookies, who are selling their famed oversized cookies in venue.
For the Land of Oz campaign, the pub partnered with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to create a coffee cart using their Grinders Coffee Roasters brand.
“Doing a coffee cart throughout June and July just made sense, and through coffee purchases you would go into a draw to win tickets to go to Universal Studios, which Coke have a partnership with. So just aligning with our suppliers and their brands and marrying the two together, that makes sense, and it’s complimentary of both,” suggested Seeny.
A long-term investment
These campaigns are no small feat and are several months in planning before they are launched. And with so many moving parts, Seeney says these campaigns are a long-term investment in making Camden Valley Inn both a destination pub but also as western Sydney’s home of entertainment for the whole family.
“You’ve got to invest in the future. We’re definitely more looking at long term goals with these, but we’re already projecting towards those, which is good.”
Having executed the first two, there’s also some learnings to take into the future campaigns, but with each theme meaning different activations, the biggest lesson learnt is to be able to adapt quickly.
“The best thing about the people we’ve got working on these campaigns is that we will constantly adapt and change. We don’t expect everything to be copy and paste. There’s always going to be something that’s going to be a little bit different depending on the campaign we’re running. So we move fast on what needs to be adjusted or improved on,” stated Seeney.
The Camden Valley Inn team is now working on their next June/ July activation.
