Who are you and what are you doing?

Be Remarkable

The bar/restaurant industry is a particularly tricky one in which to create a differentiated, or remarkable, product. With the vast number of bars, not only in the Queen Anne neighborhood, but in Belltown or Ballard or Freemont, how can a business be remarkable and stand out among the other offerings? Since Ozzie’s was purchased 4 or 5 years ago, the atmosphere has been changing, but it’s not clear what the end goal is. It would behoove the management to sit down and discuss what they want Ozzie’s to be. What is going to make it remarkable and stand out from other businesses? They’ve spent an awful lot of money changing things around, but it’s not clear what the end goal is, other than to look like every other bar. That’s not a winning strategy.

Sneezer Schmoozer

Ozzie’s has long been a place where groups of people go. On any given night, there’s bound to be a bachelor party, bachelorette party, birthday party, etc. Just ask BigBizz. Someone is organizing these events and people who do that kind of stuff tend to be the sneezers. If they’re organizing these groups of people, they’re likely organizing other things as well, be it work parties or simply where to go out on any given night. When groups celebrating an event come in, it’s a great opportunity to find out who the sneezer in the group is and to bring them into the businesses list of contacts. Give the best man, maid of honor, best friend (not the person having the even thrown for them, but the person throwing the event) a gift certificate for $15 bucks (for their next visit) and encourage them to come back and visit, throw another event and tell their friends what a good time they had at Ozzie’s.

That GM Is Hilarious!

When the new owners took over, they hired Robert. 50 years old, born in Spain, went to boarding school in England, has worked in South Africa, fishing boats in Alaska, swears like a sailor and is one of the most interesting characters you’ll ever meet. Not only is he a no-nonsense manager, but he is a customer relations asset. Patrons find him interesting and, since people in bars love to talk, he’s a great marketing tool. Because he’s no nonsense, people believe when they ask him something, they’ll get a straight answer. It might not always be the answer they like, but in the bar business, the customer isn’t always right. Sometimes they’re just drunk. The majority of people respect that and when the manager is entertaining and a straight shooter, what he says carries weight, especially when he has formed a relationship with the patrons. He’s certainly memorable, which is important when memories can get a little fuzzy. He is the voice of Ozzie’s and that needs to be conveyed when possible in their social media.