GigExpert: a system for promoting events in pubs and other independent local venues via customer relationship management (CRM) and digital channels

酒吧是英国当地生活和地区经济的重要组成部分。在英国，酒吧行业雇佣了近100万人，每年为经济贡献194亿英镑的GVA。该行业面临着财政压力，每年有2%的酒吧关闭。酒吧里的现场音乐等活动增加了客流量，并使收入增加了约44%。增加此类活动的数量和出席人数将促进酒吧行业和当地经济的发展。其他类型的场所，如喜剧和体育俱乐部也可以从中受益。消费者越来越多地使用数字渠道来发现和注册现场活动。通过数字渠道有效推广本地现场活动可以从crm方法中获益：即建立并维护过去活动参与者的选择列表，通过适当的渠道（如电子邮件和Facebook）向这些人推广未来的活动，以及在多个附近场地之间进行交叉推广（征得用户同意）。大型酒吧和酒吧连锁店可以投资于这些方法，但独立酒吧的经理既缺乏技能，也没有时间使用这些技巧。这个项目提出了一个解决方案——GigExpert——它将最先进的数字crm技术打包到一个SaaS工具中，用于当地的活动推广，该工具足够简单，可供场地的非专业管理人员使用；管理客户联系方式；通过数字渠道自动化活动推广的最佳实践；并支持基于消费者同意的本地事件发现和超本地跨场所促销。这一概念验证将创建GigExpert系统的基本原型，并通过有限的本地化现场试验来证明(a)酒吧经理可以采用该系统(b)消费者可以接受该系统(c)可以提高活动出席率和收入。到2020年，GigExpert在英国的总收入将达到每年400万英镑。GVA收益将为每年5000万英镑。更广泛的社会效益包括减少酒吧关闭，增加城镇中心的客流量以及增加个人对当地社区的参与。

Pubs are a key part of UK local life and regional economies. The pub industry employs nearly1M people in the UK and contributes £19.4bn/yr GVA to the economy. The industry facesfinancial pressures with 2% of pubs closing each year.Events such as live music in pubs increase footfall and raise revenues by an estimated 44%.Increasing the number and attendance of such events would boost the pub industry and localeconomies. Other types of venues e.g. comedy and sports clubs could also benefit.Consumers are increasingly using digital channels to discover and sign up for live events.Effective promotion of local live events via digital channels benefits enormously from CRMapproaches: that is, building and maintaining opt-in lists of past event attendees, promotingfuture events to these people via appropriate channels such as email and Facebook, and crosspromotions(with user consent) between multiple nearby venues. Large pub and bar chainscan invest in these approaches, but managers of independent pubs lack both skills and time touse these techniques.This project proposes a solution – GigExpert – which will package state-of-the-art digitalCRM techniques for local event promotion in a SaaS tool that: is simple enough for nonspecialistmanagers in venues to use; manages customer contact details; automates bestpractice for event promotion via digital channels; and supports consent-based local eventdiscovery for consumers and hyperlocal cross-venue promotions.This proof of concept will create a basic prototype of the GigExpert system and demonstratevia limited, localised live trials that (a) pub managers can adopt the system (b) it is acceptableto consumers (c) uplifts in event attendance and revenues can be achieved.Total UK revenues for GigExpert will be £4M/yr by 2020. The GVA benefit will be £50M/yr.Wider societal benefits include reducing pub closures, increasing footfall in town centres andincreasing individual participation in local communities.