Snag A Stool App – Incredible Bar/Pub Experience Building Tool

Public Relations Plan

I. Problem/Opportunity

- Problem:

Customers find it very difficult and stressful to grab seats in a crowded bar/

pub on Friday, Saturday nights, sports game and concert nights.

Many customers have to put up with crowds blocking their sights when they

sit in the back or in the corner watching a popular sports game or concert in a

bar/pub.

A Fast-paced lifestyle makes costumers easily become impatient in waiting

for their service. Convenience is now the main lifestyle theme pursued by

many young professionals.

Few people know the existence of Stag a Stool App in the market, not to

mention about utilizing this app to facilitate their life.

- Opportunity:

The lack of public awareness actually creates a good opportunity to generate

customer awareness of Stag a Stool in public.

This is an appropriate timing to encourage individuals to realize and take

advantage of digital and technological tools in order to embrace an efficient

and convenient life.

II. Situation Analysis

- Internal

Strengths:

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o This operation of this app is very easy. Customers are able to use this app to

reserve seats at a bar/pub on busy Friday or Saturday nights only with a few

clicks on the screen.

o Customers are able to use this app to get the best spot of a bar to view a

popular sports game, such as the Super Bowl and the World Cup and

National Football Championship, as opposed to stretching out the necks and

competing for space with other viewers.

o Customers are able to complete the stool reservation wherever they are and

whenever they want as long as they have downloaded the app on their phones

and have Internet data or Wi-Fi. This convenience breaks the limitation of

location and time.

o Psychological Benefit: Snag A Stool users feel like VIPs when they walk into

a packed bar and sit right at the seats they reserved ahead of time.

o This app helps avoid the unnecessary stress caused by looking for seats in the

crowd of customers. In many cases, the anxiety caused by seat seeking would

easily become the killjoy of customers’ night out. For example, many young

professionals hope to relax after work from having a drink instead of having

another headache from looking for seats. Furthermore, you and your date will

probably become frustrated by having to stand in a packed bar, or having to

leave and look for another empty bar to continue the date; these little details

can easily become the factors that ruin an otherwise beautiful date night.

o Tourists and newcomers of the city can also use this app as a practical

bar/pub guide in the city he or she is located. Snag a Stool categories

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registered bars/ pubs in the city by name and distance so that users can

discover a bar that fits their preference most.

o Snag A Stool has a very innovative, creative and passionate work and

leadership team that are dedicated in the constant upgrade of Snag A Stool in

order to better serve its users. Co-founders Jamie Hannings, Dean Whitney

and Adriano Varassin all graduated with MBA degrees from the same

university, have known each other for years and had abundant experiences in

finance, digital marketing and management prior to joining and developing

Snag A Stool.

Weaknesses:

o Snag a Stool is a newly launched app in the market and is not known in

public yet.

o Snag A Stool is currently not yet available to Android users, but only iOS

users.

o Unlike mature apps in the market, such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Yelp,

Snag A Stool is a developing start-up app that has much less power,

influence, and resources. Many individuals tend to embrace apps that are

already well established and recognized.

o There are only fixed amount of best seats in a bar/ pub. Despite the easiness

from making reservation of bar seats, best seats will still be taken away if

users fail to reserve seats on time.

o During the premium time, such as big games and concerts, Snag A Stool will

charge users a few dollars to reserve a seat. Many people might think it quite

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unworthy to pay for a seat and would rather stand in the bar, or some people

would rather believe in their luck to get free seats without making

reservations ahead of time.

o The usage of Snag A Stool is largely restricted by time and events. Few

people would bother to make seat reservations during the off-peak time,

referring to most weekday nights or non-game nights.

-External

Threats:

o Possible competition from other apps with similar functions. Even though

Snag A Stool is now the only exclusive app that enables its users to make

seat reservations in the bars, we cannot eliminate the possibility that there

will be another bar sear reserving app coming into the market soon.

OpenTable is currently a dinner table reservation app that is most similar to

Snag a Stool.

o Visiting bars is sometimes a spontaneous behavior, very possibly a last-

minute decision. In some cases, people choose to enter a bar randomly based

on spontaneity and intuition.

o Some people enjoy standing up and moving around in the bar to increase the

chance to socialize and meet new people. Someone sitting in a bar, especially

when alone, might leave an impression of being unapproachable or socially

awkward, especially when even the bartender is too busy to talk.

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o Some customers might reserve the seats and not show up. Empty seats left in

the bar will possibly drive away prospective customers. Bars also risk the

loss of revenue by waiting for customers.

o It is not as easy to indicate that a bar seat is already reserved in advance,

unlike a dinner table on which you can easily put up a sign saying “

Reserved”. Sometimes customers might still take the reserved bar stools by

mistake, especially under the circumstances that bartenders and servers are

busy, the surrounding is dark or customers are not in a sober state. It poses

extra embarrassment to remove customers already sitting on the reserved

seats for a while. It might also risks to cause unpleasant altercations if the

customer is intoxicated and not in a friendly mood.

Opportunities:

o Mobile applications with the function of reserving seats at bars/ pubs are

rarely seen in the market now, compared with dinner reservation and food

delivery apps.

o Snag A Stool enables customers to leave comments and reviews about the

bars/ pubs they visited. This function prompts bar owners and managers to

adjust the business operation accordingly and thus maintain a satisfying

service to customers.

o During the premium time, such as big games and concerts, bar owners can

make additional revenue by selling the bar stools and Stag A Stool makes

money by taking a percentage of the reservation fee.

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o Many bars and pubs can utilize this app to promote its business. When there

are a large number of individuals using this app to reserve seats at a bar, the

walker-by will be inclined to step into this bar because crowded bars are

more likely to be attractive.

III. Objective (Criterion: Time-based, Quantifiable, Attainable,

Measurable)

Informational (Know, feel)

- Snag A Stool awareness and knowledge

o We want 60% of the nationwide 21+ adults to be aware of Snag a Stool by

March 1st.

o We want 80% of the nationwide 21+ adults to know the detailed usage and

advantages of Snag a Stool by May 1st.

- Social media and website channels

o To have 1000 new visitors on the Snag a Stool website within 2 months.

o To get at least 1000 likes on Snag a Stool Facebook page within 3 months.

o To get at least 600 Instagram followers within 2 months.

o To get at least 800 followers on Twitter within 2 months.

o To have 200 people talk about and express their excitement over Snag a Stool

on Facebook and Twitter by February 1st.

o To have 500 people add Snag a Stool Snapchat account within 3 months.

o To have an average number of 800 views per video and 400 subscribers on a

YouTube channel within in 3 months.

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- Media Coverage

o To get co-founders to present Snag a Stool on ABC’s Shark Tank within 3

months.

o To get at least 3 interviews of co-founders or 5 feature articles about Snag a

Stool on regional and trade media, such as Boston Magazine, BostInno,

TechCrunch, NightClub.com, PYMTS or Venture Fizz, within two months.

The media listed above are small-scale publications that focus on either

regional affairs or start-ups.

o To get at least 8 media coverage about Snag a Stool and its co-founders on

national news sites and publications, such as the Huffington Post, Quartz,

BuzzFeed and Business Insider, by June 1st.

o To get any of the three co-founders to be featured on TEDx Talks within 6

months.

Motivational (Do)

- Mobile downloads and Users

o To get at least 1000 mobile downloads within the first month.

o To get 8000 mobile downloads by June 1st.

o To obtain at least 96% positive feedbacks and 4.7 star review about the app by

users on App Store, Snag a Stool website and social media channels.

- Bar and pub owners

o To drive the majority of bars nationwide (70%), especially those in Boston,

New York, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, to sign up

with Snag a Stool within a year.

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o To have 90% the bars that signed up with Snag a Stool to promote the usage

of this app among customers through words, in-store posters, e-mails, flyers

and etc. within a month.

IV. Audience

21-34 year-old, middle class and above, young professionals with disposable

income.

o Mike is a 28-year-old white single man working for Boston Consulting Group.

He graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s

degree in Finance. Mike is outgoing and sociable. He enjoys having a couple of

drinks with his friends or co-workers after work to relax.

Upperclassmen in college and university (Mostly undergraduate seniors,

graduates students and above).

o Alexis is a 21- year-old senior from New York University. She is good at

balancing between schoolwork and having fun. Besides studying hard on

weekdays, she likes going out with friends on weekend. As a big fan of rock

and jazz music, she often collects information about live concerts in the city.

Alexis is also an athletic girl who plays in the women’s volleyball team and

enjoys watching all types of sports events.

Bar and pub owners across from the United States.

o Jason is a 30-year-old bar owner in San Francisco. Jason is creative, easygoing

and attentive to popular trends in life, such as technology, music and games.

He likes hosting events in his bar to attract customers. Past events included

quiz nights, costume parties and live concerts. There is a big screen and

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projector in his bar to show major sports games, such as the Super Bowl, the

World Cup and the National Football Championship.

Secondary Audience: 21+ LGBT Community

Explanation:

The time factor. People approach innovation in different ways, depending on

their personality traits and the risks involved. According to ComScore Matrix

Data, those between the ages of 25-34 spend more time (74-75 hours per month)

on mobile apps than any other age segment examined. The main reason can be

attributed to the fact that young college students and professionals are early

adopters: savvy individuals who keep up with new ideas and new products, often

the opinion leaders for their friends and colleagues. Influenced by early adopters,

early majority, those who take a deliberate, pragmatic approach to adopting ideas,

will follow the lead.

The age group. Snag A Stool’s targeted audience mostly belongs to the

Millennial Generation, which constitute about 20% of the U.S population. The

oldest in this generation is around 34 with established careers. At the youngest

end of the spectrum are roughly the 21-year-olds in college. This generation is

identified the E-generation because they are mostly voracious consumers of

digital media. They are the first generation to grow up as digital “natives” with

the Internet, social media sites, cellphones and many others. Snag A Stool is a

new mobile app that will exactly cater to the tech-savvy characteristic of this

generation, a generation that pursues innovation, creativity and efficiency.

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Demographics of bar customers. Best Customers: Demographics of Customer

Demands offered detailed information on the bar business customers by target

customers, ethnicity, and geography and income levels.

A. Householders aged 25-34 spend 66% ($83.25) above the national average

household expenditures in bars. Householders under 25 spend 30% more than the

average household expenditure.

B. Spending by non-Hispanic whites is 13% more than the national average,

compared with Hispanic, Black and Asian populations. Differences in

spending on bars and pubs emerge regionally: Midwest (1% less, 23% of

market), West (33% more, 30% of market), Northeast (4% more, 19% of

market), South (2% less, 28% of market).

C. Households earing $100,000 or more spent 82% more than the average

household on bars and pubs, households earning $70,000-$100,000 spend

20% more than average, while households earning less than $40,000 spend

about 46% less than average.

Entertainment and pressure alleviation. This targeted audience has a

generally higher demand over entertainment and pressure alleviation than the

others. They constantly seek for excitements to fill in their leisure time. Bars and

pubs satisfy this group of people’s need to socialize and reduce the anxiety from

work and study. Middle-aged groups comparatively have less time to go out

because many of them are married and have to fulfill family obligations.

Cost. The only concern around targeting senior 21+ college students is that Snag

A Stool charges certain amount of money during the peak time. Despite college

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students’ passion over going out and having fun, many college students might

find it unworthy to spend money on reserving seats due to their limited budget.

However, most young professionals usually care less about money because they

are already financially independent. They tend to value efficiency over cost.

Why bar owners? The success of Snag A Stool lies in not only attracting users

among bar customers, but also building close relationships with bar and pub

owners. The key to the popularity of Snag A Stool heavily depends on the number

of bars partnered with the app. Only if there are as many as bars involved in Snag

A Stool, will there be more users who like exploring different bars go on this app

to check variety of bars. Meanwhile, bar owners would love to accept Snag A

Stool for the reason of business promotion.

LGBT community. The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is a

diverse demographic estimated to be between 9 to 16 million Americans, with a

strong purchasing power up to $750 billion, according to the Packaged Facts.

Some studies have also indicated that they are the most wired and technologically

oriented groups in the country with about 80% online. Meanwhile, there are now

a large number of niche bars exclusively for LGBT community, which makes up a

decent percentage in the bar business industry. Therefore, Snag A Stool should

take this niche market into consideration.

V. Key Messages

- Users and prospective users: Enhanced customer experience

Snag A Stool is more than a technology company, but a hospitality service.

Snag A Stool is the first and only mobile app that lets customers reserve bar stools at

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their favorite bars and pubs.

Customers can skip the line and be seated at a crowded bar by showing doorman the

digital ticket during the peak time, which eliminates the unnecessary waste of time

and anxiety from looking for seats.

Snag A Stool surveyed 500 people via email and discovered that 80 percent of

respondents had left a bar because they couldn’t find a seat. Of that group, 70

percent said they would pay an average $15 to reserve a bar stool during a playoff

game or big event.

Seat reservation can be completed super easily and conveniently with only a few taps

on the phone screen: Log in, pick the date and time, the number of bar stools.

Customers will surprisingly discover their favorite new bars by using Snag A Stool

as a nightlife guide.

No matter concerts, sports game nights or other events, customers will gain huge

visual enjoyment sitting at the best available spot.

The inspiration behind Snag A Stool comes from real-life experience instead of

impulsivity. (Co-founders learned the lesson when they missed the Bruins in the

playoffs due to the difficulty to find seats in super packed bars).

Customers will feel like VIPs and enjoy the extended hospitality by bar staff. (Your

romantic date will be extra impressed by this special move and the bartender will

make an effort to get to know the customers and their preference better.)

Customers can reserve seats for free and will be offered free appetizers, drinks,

coupons or other incentives during the off-peak time.

Snag A Stool won a lot of attention even though it is a startup app. It was one of the

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three local businesses selected to compete on Project Startup Live show.

- Bar/pub owners: We care about your business success

Bar owners can boost their business by signing up with Snag A Stool and filling in

the form on its official website.

Bar owners can earn extra revenue by selling pre-paid tickets for bar stools through

Snag A Stool. The company worked out a percentage share based on the reservation

revenue as paid by the guests.

Snag A Stool drives customers to the venues even during the non-busy time, as long

as the bar spends only a few more dollars offering customers a free appetizer on top

of overhead operation fees.

Unknown bars can utilize Snag A Stool as a platform to increase customer

awareness just by being on the bar list of the app.

Bars should not miss potential customers and fall behind as joining Snag A Stool is

becoming a popular trend in bar business.

- Explanation: Persuasion and theories

Content and Structure of messages. A number of techniques can make messages

more persuasive. The survey and statistics (e.g. 80% respondents had left a packed

bar) presented by Snag A Stool can impress people and convey the importance of

this app in a credible way. Then the previous media coverage initiated by the Project

Startup Live is recognized as a media endorsement that bestows legitimacy and

newsworthiness on this service. Examples given on how this app is easy, convenient

and unique further made key messages more persuasive. Likewise, the application of

co-founders’ story about their difficulty looking for seats in a bar attempted to

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humanize a situation and arouse the audience’s empathy. A ‘drama’ is always a

useful device in grabbing attention.

Suggestions for action. The audience endorses an idea only if the sponsor proposes

an action. Key messages effectively appealed bar owners to act to sign up and

furnished rationale on why and how to do so.

Appeal to self-interest. Public become involved to messages that appeal to their

psychological or economic needs. Instead of only listing a number of functions,

audience care more about the benefits that they will gain from using this app. Bar

owners strive to make more profits, while customers seek for well-being, respect and

convenience from the service. This app’s key messages focusing on these motivation

factors, such as wealth, respect, well being and affection, are tailored to address both

parties’ self-interests.

Agenda setting theory. This theory tells the audience what to think about, as people

intend to pay attention to what they often see and hear. The wide spread of these key

messages will help more audience aware of the app and then facilitates the

formulation of audience opinion over this new service.

Framing theory. This theory tells the audience how to think about a product or

service. Key messages are designed to continuingly frame audiences’ positive

opinions and impact their understanding over Snag A Stool with regard to its

benefits and uniqueness.

Vi. Strategies

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Social media and website : utilize multiple social media channels and official website

as information distribution tools to massively inform and keep the audience

frequently updated about Snag A Stool, especially its influence and benefits.

Meanwhile, start several social media contests to engage the audience, collect

feedback and build relationships with existing and potential users.

Events: Host and sponsor events that can enable press, bloggers and targeted

audience to interact with business operators, learn about the app and thus formulate

positive opinions about Snag A Stool.

Incentives : Offer incentives and rewards to customers with the purpose of

developing customer loyalty.

Word of Mouth: Encourage users and bar owners to pass on their positive

experiences with Snag A Stool to their friends, family and colleagues.

Media coverage : Distribute press materials to mass media, including regional/niche

television station, publications and websites relevant to startups, technology and

nightlife, in order to obtain as much media coverage about either the app or its co-

founders. Build relationships with bloggers to have Snag A Stool written in their

blogs. Once the popularity of Snag A Stool is solidly established, continue pitching

national newspapers, magazines, and famous television and talk shows.

Vii. Tactics

Social Media and contest: Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat account.

o Regularly update the social media accounts with the following content: benefits

and instructions on using Snag A Stool, the latest news and media coverage of

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Snag A Stool, interviews of co-founders, users’ positive feedbacks and

testimonials, upcoming popular bar events, bar promotions and photos.

o Instagram hashtag contest: Users can post beautiful pictures of themselves at

crowded bar events and caption how Snag A Stool has made their nights extra

enjoyable using two or three sentences, with hashtags #Snagastool and

#StoolVIP. Post with most likes and comments will be selected and the user

will receive a $100 coupon that can be used in any bar or pub partnered with

Snag A Stool. First ten contestants who post on Instagram will also be

rewarded $20 coupons for drinks and appetizers.

o Encourage bars and pubs to tag @snagastool when they release information

about promotions, upcoming events and sports game nights on Twitter,

Instagram and Facebook and appeal the customers to reserve seats ahead of

time through Snag A Stool.

o Record your pleasant night out, either at a bar concert or at the Super Bowl

night, and send your Snapchat to Snag A Stool snapchat account. The best ones

will be compiled and posted on Snag A Stool story snap and be viewed by all

users friended with Snag A Stool.

Website : Establish an official and open-to-public Snag A Stool website. Frequently

update the site with Snag A Stool’s news, trailers, interviews and feature articles.

Add “FAQs” and “Contact Us” tabs with the purpose of informing and instructing

the visitors about the app and collecting feedbacks from existing and prospective

users.

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YouTube: Set up a Snag A Stool YouTube channel. Materials for upload can be Snag

A Stool advertisement trailers, television shows and interviews, best Snapchat stories

by users and videos from past bar events.

Media relations :

o Send free bar event tickets or drink and appetizer coupons to bloggers writing

about startups, technology, entertainment and regions in exchange for their trials

of Snag A Stool and write about this app in their blogs.

o Distribute traditional news release, media kit (including news release, FAQs,

publicity photos, video trailer and news feature) to pitch journalists and

reporters from regional and niche media, such as Boston Magazine, BostInno,

TechCrunch, NightClub.com, PYMTS, Venture Fizz. Start pitching national

websites, publications and television stations, such as the Huffington Post,

Quartz and Business Insider, through the same approaches based on the

progress made in pitching smaller-scale mass media.

o Contact TEDx and Shark Tank producers via phone calls, e-mails or text

messages, supplemented by media material distribution, to request presentation

and interview opportunities.

o Host Snag A Stool press parties with the purpose of building relationships with

press and bloggers who write, broadcast and blog about Snag A Stool. In this

process of interaction, guests can learn more about company officials and

develop potential news contacts with the organization. Staff will hand out

information packet and small gift bags to guests and host will “make the pitch”

by the end of party.

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Marketing Communication:

o Share a percentage of the revenue from reservation fees during the peak hours

with bars and pubs that have partnered with Snag A Stool and thus drive more

bars to join Snag A Stool stimulated by the chance to earn extra revenue.

o New users can type in promotion code in Snag a Stool to enjoy free five trials.

o Frequently sponsor live concerts, quiz night, trivial night, theme party and

other types of bar events in the name of Snag A Stool to enlarge its public

influence.

o Apply free reservation and offer incentives such as coupons and free appetizers

to customers who reserved seats on Snag A Stool during the off-peak hours.

o Coordinate with bar owners and staff to extend their hospitality during the off

peak hours. We want the guests to feel like VIP welcomed by the cheers of host,

manager and the bartender from the moment they walk into the door.

o Reward customers who refer Snag A Stool to his friends, family or colleagues a

full month free reservation in any bar and pub.

o Attach information about Snag A Stool on bar posters and flyers so that

customers can notice Snag A Stool while they read about the bar.

o Include information (usage and benefits) about Snag A Stool in bars’ e-mail

newsletters.

o Hire brand representatives to help enlarge the influence and reach out to a larger

scale of audience through advertising on online discussion groups, handing out

flyers outside sports game venues, bars, restaurants, and college pubs. These

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brand representatives can set up booths and give out free water, snacks, bottle

openers or T-shirts in order to grab more public attention.

Viii. Evaluation

Measurement of Audience Awareness

o Count the number of people who mention about Snag A Stool on Facebook after

tactics were put in place. Track the number of “likes” increase on Facebook page,

shares and comments of each post, number of “followers” increase on Instagram

and Twitter and number of YouTube channel subscriber increase and number of

views on Snag A Stool trailer and publicity videos.

o We will also count the number of visitors to our website page as well as how

many are returning and new visitors.

o To evaluate the success of media pitch, we can compare the number of press

materials actually published by media with number of press materials distributed

to press.

o The compilation of print and broadcast mentions, also called “clips”, is another

form of evaluating message exposure. The result gives a fair and accurate count of

how many traditional and new media stories are generated. According to the

circulation of a publication, we can estimate how many people may have exposed

to the message or reached by a publication, website or a broadcast program, also

referred as “media impression”.

o Use Advertising Value Equivalency to calculate the value of a news story or

broadcast mention by comparing it to what the space or time would cost in

advertising.

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o Count the number of attendees in each social media contest and compare the

number of increase after each month.

o Analyze the content of media placements by variables, such as market

penetration, type of publication, tone of coverage.

Measurement of Audience Attitudes and Action

o Count the number of app download and its increase after each month.

o Count the number of bars and pubs signed up with Snag A Stool and its increase

after each month.

o Track the rate fluctuation and reviews on the download page of App Store.

o Analyze the survey results collected from users via e-mail, phone call, or online

submit.

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