Vibe Conference's breakout session, “Creating Guest Loyalty,” brought together operators from four distinct concepts to discuss how beverage programs can make a difference in eatertainment venues:
- Bill Koning, Vice President of Hospitality, Chicken N Pickle
- Jencey Keeton, Chief Marketing Officer, Punch Bowl Social
- Nels Storm, Vice President, Food & Beverage Product Strategy, AMC Theatres
- LP O'Brien, Global Creative Director of Beverage, F1 Arcade
All four operators emphasized that the winning concepts aren't just making great drinks, they're building systems, leveraging data, and rethinking the guest journey from the parking lot to the last sip.
Here are some valuable takeaways from the session.
Dwell Time is Different in Entertainment Venues
Dwell time — the total time a guest spends on premises — directly correlates to revenue. And in venues with entertainment options like games and movies, that dwell time can significantly increase. The operators’ job is to design their F&B strategy around how long the guest is actually staying and build touchpoints accordingly.
“We're not a 47-minute destination. We are a two, two-and-a-half to three-hour destination or however long the game is going to last,” said Koning of Chicken N Pickle. “So we had to figure out ways to interject the beverage program into the experience, and at the same time, recognize that it's still an alcoholic drink. And if people are with you for three hours, we have to watch that consumption over time.”
To properly match the beverages to the occasion, Chicken N Pickle trains its staff to ask why guests are joining them—for pickleball, to watch a televised event, for the rooftop bar—and then they customize the beverage program accordingly.
At a venue like AMC Theatres, the reason for the visit is much clearer—the guest is there to see a film first and foremost. “So we have an opportunity to speak to that guest once before they actually make it into the auditorium and disappear for two hours or longer, depending on the film product,” said Storm.
In this case, much of the marketing and beverage program touchpoints are frontloaded to be at the start of the visit, before a customer enters the movie.
“We've had a lot of luck with two things. Large format has been just a game changer for us, playing in those larger sizes and allowing guests the opportunity to not have to leave [the movie] again,” said Storm, who notes increasing their featured drinks from 16 to 24 ounces was very successful. “And premiumization. We don't have a well—call is our well. And guests have taken us there.
“They want the best version of that. It's also a night out for everyone, and they want to fully experience the experience. So a double Grey Goose is not off the table—it’s on every table.”
LTOs Are More Than Menu Additions—They’re Experiences
Limited-time offers (LTOs) can also prove lucrative. Punchbowl Social did a study that found that shareables are very popular, so they focused on elevating and selling more of their namesake punch bowls by pairing them with their programming.
The venue also found that running the LTOs for longer—for example, their month-long LTO programming tied to holidays like Halloween and Valentine's Day—led to more traffic and revenue as guests had a chance to come back more than once. Punch Bowl’s staff is also behind the success and appreciates the chance to have a fun way to interact with guests.
“It creates this memorable experience for the guests as well because we're trying to create that affinity and bring that repeat business in,” said Keeton. “And each year we continue to level it up.”
Consistency at Scale Starts with Systems & Training
When it comes to concepts with multiple locations, O’Brien said it’s important to teach staff to get out of the single unit mentality and think bigger since products and recipes need to be scaled across an entire franchise. “What's really important for us is not that the drink looks exactly the same, it's that it tastes consistent in every market,” she explained.
That consistent taste comes down to training and product selection. For product selection, it’s about ensuring the team understands standardization. A product like hibiscus tea might not taste the same if different types are being used in different establishments, no matter if the prep is the same.
On the training side, O’Brien says it’s all about ensuring staff participation and buy-in. If they can be a part of the experience, then they can better understand the why behind things like steps of service. From there, O’Brien coaches teams to consider the standards and systems that are missing in their venue and to then create those and make them accessible, “Did you set them up for success? Is there a system? Is there a standard for this thing? If there is not, we need to create the system and the standard. Once that's created, how do we get that accessible to them?”
Non-Alc Is a Profit Center, Not an Afterthought
Every panelist confirmed it: The non-alcoholic category is growing, and the margin opportunity is real.
At Punch Bowl Social, the NA menu allows them to experiment. They will bring in different flavors, try out new trends, and sometimes, even find their next hit boozy cocktail since guests can add spirits to any zero-proof cocktail. “We're selling almost as many of the zero proof make it boozy drinks as some of our featured cocktails,” said Keeton, who notes the team then decides if that particular drink should move to the featured cocktail menu.
At AMC, the focus is on building handcrafted NA offerings on top of its already strong soft drink business. “Rather than taking our alcohol business and creating non-alcoholic versions, we're creating handcrafted versions of our already existing, strong NA business, and utilizing Coke as the catalyst to do that,” said Storm.
At F1 Arcade, O’Brien has found success in leaning into cultural serves. “We put agua de Jamaica on our Atlanta menu, and it surpassed our highest-selling NA drink by 40%,” said O’Brien, who notes the drink costs 60 cents to make, and they sell it for five dollars.
It’s those increased margins offered by NA drinks that Koning said Chicken N Pickle is leaning into as well through things like dirty sodas, “We're seeing things coming back towards a $14, $15 non-alcoholic beverage. We all need to lean into that. That's where the money is.”
The operators winning here aren't just removing alcohol from existing recipes. They're building intentional, flavorful NA programs that give every guest a reason to spend.
Keep an eye out for more recaps of our Vibe Conference sessions!
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Elliot Howell, Sales Director, ehowell@questex.com
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