The customer is always right Ⅲ

After the introductions, the first panel of the morning, comprising commentator and author Robert Joseph, brand strategy director at Interbrand, Manfred Abraham, and Jillian MacLean, founder of the Drake & Morgan Group, looked at identifying who these new consumers are – and what they want.

Jillian MacLean

The last speaker on the panel, MacLean, gave an on-trade perspective to what the consumers of today are after. She began by saying that when the D&M group started, “although gastropubs were often doing a great job, many were over-priced and not giving consumers what they wanted, and other bars like All Bar One weren’t moving things on for the consumer”.

Before embarking on opening any new site, MacLean said she makes sure the bar in question will cater for its demographic. What will the consumers want from a venue? Are they City workers? Is there a high proportion of women? Around 35% of women like to pre-book places online, so give them that option.

Not that the group dispenses with its own innovation. Whether it be offering low-calorie cocktails, tasting and mixology sessions, miniature sharing menus or Enomatic machines, being pro-active and looking at up-coming trends is all important.

The D&M group frequently sends employees over to the US and Australia looking for innovation in the bar scenes in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Melbourne. MacLean said that what was particularly important was to “innovate and chat to consumers to find out what they want and change things whenever possible”.

The most important things to pursue, she continued, were “provenance, sustainability and value”.