One of the distinguishing characteristics of a great brewery or tap room is that they always have a great brand. Breweries are actually some of the most creative branding people in the hospitality market at a micro level. The best breweries pay a lot of attention to what their brand stands for and make that come to life in their products, packaging, promotions and, above all, in their tap room.
One of the distinguishing characteristics of a great brewery or tap room is that they always have a great brand. Breweries are actually some of the most creative branding people in the hospitality market at a micro level. The best breweries pay a lot of attention to what their brand stands for and make that come to life in their products, packaging, promotions and, above all, in their tap room. How do the best brewers bring their brand to life? It's about honesty in the brand identity.
Take Ghost Town Brewing, West Oakland CA. They’re not a GoTab customer. These guys are huge metal heads, they’re super cool guys. They make amazing beer, but they own their personalities, like no one else.
If you walk into their brewery, they're blasting everything from grind core to classic Judas Priest. They’re playing themed movies on the projector, coffins throughout the venue and even have an Iron Maiden pinball machine. They know who they are. And they lean into that so hard because that's brand honesty. They're opening themselves up and saying, “this is who we are. If you can’t handle loud music and strong beers, this might not be the place for you.” At the same time, they are accessible. Their staff are super friendly. They know a lot about the beer. But at the same time, it's so accessible because you walk in there and they're super friendly. They know about the beer and have a beer for everyone. They have a great English Cream Ale called Scumbag. It's $3 per pint 365 days a year if you can get it because it sells out fast. What Ghost Town Brewing does sounds like a lot of effort, but it’s not if you’re honest about what you want your brewery’s brand identity to be.
If You Want to Eat with the Rich, Feed the Masses
The more that you can get a wider audience, and keep them really interested in what you're offering, the more success you’ll experience over the long term. A great example of this is Stone Brewing. Stone is a GoTab customer. They are the ninth largest brewery distributor in the nation and have enjoyed wild success both operationally and with their brand.
Founded in 1996, Stone pioneered the West Coast Style IPA, helping to fuel the modern craft beer revolution and inspire generations of hop fanatics. Today Stone operates breweries in Escondido, CA and Richmond, VA plus seven tap room and bistro locations. Stone offers a wide range of craft beers including its most popular Stone IPA, Stone Delicious IPA and Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager. Stone has been called the “All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth” by BeerAdvocate magazine twice.
One of the most memorable aspects of their visual brand is the Stone Gargoyle. Here’s how they describe the significance of the Stone Gargoyle to their brand:
"Gargoyles are historically known as protectors against evil spirits. Since the beginning, our stone gargoyle has represented our ceaseless quest to create the most awesome beers imaginable. Think of the gargoyle as the big friend that’s got your back. Ever vigilant, ever watchful, and ever your humble servant."
It takes a lot to orchestrate a great brand and brand experience in a brewery and tap room of their size. Stone Brewing has made investments, over the long term, to be able to pull it off.
In our next video, we talk about the difference between being right, and being rich, when it comes to the brewery business.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
.avif)
.webp)
