Consumer Insight & Marketing Seminar: round-up

26 March, 2010

Intelligent use of customer data, together with mobile phone and social networking technology, is key to future competitive advantage for hospitality businesses. That was the clear message from Peach Factory’s Consumer Insight & Marketing Seminar held at the Soho Hotel in London on 24 March.

The sell-out event gave its audience of over 100 senior restaurant and pub industry executives exclusive insight into and ideas about how to better understand their customers and engage with them to maximise brand loyalty and sales.

The sessions included an interview with PizzaExpress marketing director Emma Woods, who gave a candid account of the chain’s use of promotions and discussed how the company was also employing product innovation to drive traffic during the downturn. See Pulling them in at PizzaExpress

Among the other presentations, David Norris, chief operating officer at Livebookings, explained how restaurateurs can link their reservations and point of sale systems to capture detailed customer data. He said this would enable them to plan more accurately-targeted promotions and to improve service through better informed procurement practices and planning of staffing levels. Read No reservations about the value of data

Click here for a free download of Livebookings' "white paper" on the Restaurant of the future.

Presentations were also made by Steve Mellor, head of kids and youth at Harris Interactive, who highlighted the importance of understanding ‘Generation Y’, the under-25’s market, (read The kids are alright really, if a little boring) and by Chris Munz, social media guru at Fishbowl Marketing, who went into detail about how hospitality brands can make the most of social networking. See Make the web a local community

In addition, Nicola Austin, marketing director at The Trajectory Partnership talked about how mobile marketing campaigns, if timely, personally-targeted and creative, can build revenue. See Mobile marketing – the democratic medium?

The sminar was run in partnbership with Coca-Cola, Fishbowl and Livebookings

TO DOWNLOAD THE SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS: simply click on the relevant speaker names in the "Related Media" section on the right

FULL REPORTS on all the presesentations and an exclusive interview with PizzaExpress's Emma Woods will appear in the April/May issue of Peach Report magazine. If you don't already, but want to, subscribe to the Peach Report package of magazine, weekly ezines and 24/7 website access, click Subscriptions, call Peach on 01704 550383 or email christine@peach-factory.com