Diageo debuts marketing tool to support bars

Smirnoff owner Diageo has launched a free social media marketing tool to help bars attract consumers during summer.

Diageo’s new Social Zone platform allows on-trade venues to create localised social media campaigns to drive footfall to their venues.

The platform, created with software start-up Glad Cloud, offers high-quality editable assets from Diageo brands such as Tanqueray and Gordon’s gin.

The assets are usually updated every month to give venues access to new content, with specific campaign material available for a limited time.

Furthermore, bars and pubs will have access to online review management tools.

The tool is currently available in Great Britain and Ireland via mydiageo.com, and in Germany, Switzerland and Austria through existing Diageo platforms. It will also launch in Australia and other potential markets later in the year.

“After being closed to the public for a significant amount of time, the reopening period is so important, and we are constantly looking at ways we can continue to support,” said Jimmy Klein, global digital innovation manager at Diageo.

“With marketing budgets squeezed and every penny going back into the business, we are harnessing years of marketing expertise from our global brands and packaging it up, so pubs and bars can build their social media offering and drive footfall into venues.”

Diageo also offers support for bar workers to boost their skills and help them adapt to the current climate. The Diageo Bar Academy offers a number of free masterclasses featuring industry experts, which can be viewed online.

The Diageo Bar Academy will hold a virtual masterclass with Google tomorrow (29 June) that will provide tips on how venues can improve their online presence and drive footfall. To sign up, click here.

Diageo has backed the on-trade since the start of the pandemic, including a £1 million (US$1.4m) donation to support Great Britain bartenders and the US$100m global hospitality recovery fund, Raising the Bar.