Jukes

Jukes (named after its two young student owners, Jordan and Luke) is an urban contemporary style student bar in the leafy suburb of Hatfield, Pretoria, South Africa. Located within a very well patronised strip mall, Jukes is within easy walking distance of the University of Pretoria and its many student residences. There are many other bars dotted around Jukes, and so competition for student spend and entertainment spend in general, is fierce. The challenge Jukes was facing was related to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. How would they attract many more people on matchday and, capitalise on this improved earning opportunity given that South Africa is a rugby mad nation?

Given the hugely competitive landscape, Jukes needed to offer something different. Even though they are primarily a varsity student bar with a very partisan feeling towards the Boks, during 2019RWC, Jukes needed to change its communication strategy to appeal to their rugby-mad, fun-loving, audience to attend other matches. The drinks at Jukes are very reasonably priced, there are multiple big screens, the place is always buzzing, and their food (exceptional burgers, pizzas, pub-grub etc.) is cheap and excellent quality. So, the BDA advised strategic play, lay with attracting, rugby-mad patrons, who would enjoy being around fun-loving, vibey, varsity students.

The chosen communication channels were Instagram and Facebook. Why? Because they are widely used and much loved by the younger generation. Plus, they lend themselves to superbly designed, eye-catching graphics. A great Instagram and/or FB-targeted post always draws attention, creates interest, and gets results. The “Jukes rugby matchday” sales messages were short, crisp, witty and targeted those who love rugby. Wonderful pre-match food and drink combo specials, unique to Jukes, were created for each gameday. This gave people a good reason to head to Jukes before the world cup match started, helped to drive brand awareness and positioned Jukes as being “THE Hatfield pub” which had dramatically upped its game around RWC2019. At the end of every match, a “tongue-in-cheek match summary by Jukes” was sent out to everyone who had watched the game at Jukes. This created a phenomenally positive response.

The chosen communication channels were Instagram and Facebook. Why? Because they are widely used and much loved by the younger generation. Plus, they lend themselves to superbly designed, eye-catching graphics. A great Instagram and/or FB-targeted post always draws attention, creates interest, and gets results. The “Jukes rugby matchday” sales messages were short, crisp, witty and targeted those who love rugby. Wonderful pre-match food and drink combo specials, unique to Jukes, were created for each gameday. This gave people a good reason to head to Jukes before the world cup match started, helped to drive brand awareness and positioned Jukes as being “THE Hatfield pub” which had dramatically upped its game around RWC2019. At the end of every match, a “tongue-in-cheek match summary by Jukes” was sent out to everyone who had watched the game at Jukes. This created a phenomenally positive response.