Recommendations to club night promoters for smarter use of flyers

This post is based upon findings from the 2010 Leeds Clubber Survey, which had a particular focus upon attitudes towards, and usage of nightclub and club night flyers in Leeds by both promoters and clubbers alike. Along with this a literature review was carried out into best practice flyer design and distribution techniques, the culmination of both have contributed to the recommendations made below.


Club night promoters are largely aware that flyers are not as effective a promotional method as what word of mouth recommendation and social media are (although they don't always want to admit this). Word of mouth and social media come at very little cost, other than ensuring that the people who have visited club nights have had the most enjoyable of times. Promoters should capitalise on the fact that the majority of their customers are regular repeat visitors, by continuing to entice them back.  Whether it is the musical repertoire of a particular night, the quality of the venue, the price of drinks or the entry charge, whatever feature or combination of features that a particular club night has that is attractive to its customers should be maintained, and every now and again improved upon to reward those loyal repeat customers who keep coming back.  As many clubbers already know which club nights they are visiting, it is unnecessary to give them another flyer.With that said, there is still a place for flyers, but their use could be smarter and certainly more efficient.  For mainstream club nights that attract a wider audience of clubbers and particularly student clubbers, on street flyer distribution will never be as efficient as it could be as long as a mass distribution to anyone and everyone is adopted.  Therefore the following recommendations are made:·     target your existing customers with flyers as they leave the premises (exit flyering), only reward them with something better than a ‘paper’ flyer.  Re-usable flyers made of something that is more longer lasting than paper could further encourage repeat visitation.  For example a plastic credit card sized flyer that upon presentation gave the bearer something that other clubbers did not get in terms of reduced entry or a special offer could be an attractive proposition to customers.  Such a flyer should include clear information about what it entitles the bearer to, as well as terms and conditions;·     encourage earlier nightclub attendance by providing flyers with special offers for those who arrive earlier;·     if flyers made of paper and card are to be used, then use them more efficiently by making them last for a prolonged period of time, and making their presentation upon arrival at a club entitle the bearer to a special offer or discount that non-flyer bearers are not entitled to.  Flyers could be collected by door staff, and then exit flyered back to customers as they leave;·     flyer content needs to adhere closely to what is suggested in this post, and this needs to be more consistently applied by promoters to all of their flyers;·     capitalise upon the fact that clubbing is a social activity, and allow just one flyer to entitle a group of clubbers to a discount;·     do not employ people to distribute flyers that are not friendly and chatty, consider the quality of the flyer transaction rather than the quantity of flyers that are given.  Flyers taken by clubbers for the ‘wrong’ reasons (often pity and guilt) are realistically of very little worth;·     other than special offers consider ways by which flyers might contribute to the atmosphere of a club night, by giving them a purpose for a ‘fun’ activity that takes place during the club night, this might encourage clubbers to keep hold of them and not throw them away;·     and be conscious of an ageing population, which will mean an increase in older clubbers. Older clubbers are less likely to pick up flyers so promoters should begin to consider alternative ways to promote to them.Flyers for club nights that feature ‘niche’ and specialist music genres certainly have a place, particularly as their audiences are interested in reading more about them.  Flyers for these type of club nights that are distributed by friendly people who are passionate about the music are likely to have a greater efficiency than flyers that are left static to be collected or are distributed by people who do not represent the ‘scene’.  It is therefore a recommendation that flyers for ‘niche’ and specialist music nights are distributed by fans of the music, in the places that are frequented by their target market, and that conversation forms part of the flyer transaction.All letterbox flyering should immediately cease, it fuels ill feeling amongst clubbers to flyers, promoters and their club nights.  It is potentially damaging, and risks souring the relationship between clubber and promoter.  The only possible exception to this rule is if flyers are used in a friendly ‘door-knocking’ manner and given by hand along with conversation.  This is what some specialist dub-step promoters do in halls of residence, knock on a door, ask the occupants if they are fans of dub-step music, if they are not, they apologise for bothering them and move on.  If they are fans, they give them a flyer into their hands and tell them about the club night.  For this to be carried out effectively it needs to be done by people who are genuine fans of the music.Club night promoters need to acknowledge that clubbers are overall an environmentally aware group, and that needless waste created by flyers enforces a negative perception of the promoter and club night.  In addition to what has already been stated above about reusable flyers, the following initiatives should be considered:·     promoters should be seen to be more active in picking up discarded flyers;·     have clearly marked ‘flyer bins’ along the street where distributors are so that those who do not want to keep flyers dispose of them in a way that allows them to be used again;·     make greater use of posters and lesser use of paper flyers;·     produce fewer flyers that are valid for more people, thereby encouraging group visits;·     concentrate more on social media and online promotions.  It would be relatively simple for promoters to distribute a link to their customers that took them to a page of flyers that contained special offers that could be printed by clubbers or even saved onto mobile smart phones and shown upon entry to gain a discount.It is a recommendation to all club night promoters to be honest with themselves about the use of flyers, do they really represent true value as a promotional medium? To really be able to gauge this, promoters should attempt to survey those entering clubs (particularly in queues) to gain a clearer understanding of the impact that flyers really have upon their customers choice of club night. Promoters should consider experimenting with club nights that are not promoted at all by flyers - and if any of you are 'brave' enough to do this, I'd be very interested to hear your results!

Clubbers in Leeds and Flyers

The information contained within this blog post is edited highlights from the conclusion to the Leeds Clubber Survey 2010, which focussed heavily on the attitudes that clubbers in Leeds have to flyers and flyering activities.Clubbers in Leeds are venue-loyal repeat visitors to the same club nights on a regular basis.  The single largest influence upon them in choosing a venue is word of mouth from their friends and associates with whom they go clubbing.  Clubbing is a social activity and this means that the most successful promotional methods, which might influence visitation to club nights are those that are also social by nature.  Word of mouth and social media are therefore highly influential in the minds of clubbers.  The involvement of friends and peers in the decision making process with regards to club night visitation is vital.  Flyers alone are not social, particularly statically placed flyers and flyers posted through letter boxes, and whilst out of all promotional media they are the most successful, they are considerably less successful than word of mouth and social media are in terms of influencing clubbers.  Clubbers in Leeds have a love / hate relationship with flyers, while 42% of clubbers overall and 49% of student clubbers are influenced by flyers ‘regularly’ or ‘all of the time’, they consider flyers a waste of paper and damaging to the environment.  The most important aspect about flyers to clubbers in Leeds (and particularly student clubbers) is that they contain a monetary benefit to them, which is more likely to encourage clubbers to pick up a flyer than any aspect of its design or written information contained upon it.  Price-conscious students are almost twice as likely to pick up and take statically placed flyers than non-students from both nightclubs and pubs / bars, while they are on the hunt for a bargain.Clubbers that have a particular interest in specific ‘niche’ genres of music, are more likely to be interested in the written content of flyers, than those who are interested in more mainstream chart and commercial music.On street distribution of flyers is an emotive issue for many clubbers, which on the questionnaire attracted a wide range of qualitative comments.  The majority of clubbers do take flyers from people in the street (81%), but the importance of the appearance of the person giving out the flyer is greater than the flyers content.  This enforces the point raised above about the importance of social involvement in the promotional process.  Flyers being placed statically for customers to take themselves, and being dropped through letterboxes do not allow for an affective relational link to be made.  This is a key advantage that flyering in public places by flyer distributors directly into the hands of potential customers can have, however the manner by which this is undertaken is key.Clubbers are more likely to take flyers from distributors who are friendly and who they find physically attractive - in essence, sex does sell, and this is possibly one reason why sexual imagery is often featured on club night promotional materials.  In terms of flyer content, special offers are the most important feature on a flyer to clubbers and in particular students.  Clubbers are also more inclined to take flyers if they are distributed in the correct locations.  Outside of, and near to clubs at the beginning and end of a night is a favoured location by clubbers for accepting flyers, providing the club night being promoted on the flyer is correctly targeted e.g.  that dubstep nights are promoted outside of dubstep nights at other clubs, so that leaving clubbers can take with them the information to digest.  This suggests that clubbers are more susceptible to on-street flyer distribution while they are in the process of clubbing than when they are not, and when they can see a connection between themselves and what it is that the flyer is promoting.Other positive reasons why clubbers may choose to take flyers from distributors include: a friendly appearance of the distributor; a shared musical interest with the distributor; and the distributor appearing representative of the club night, i.e.  being into the ‘scene’.  This is especially important to clubbers who have a specific ‘niche’ musical interest such as basslines, dubstep, hip hop or heavy metal.  This again points towards a social and relational link assisting the promotion of club nights, where there is a common bond between clubber and distributor.  The quality of the flyer transaction is being lost as promoters grow financially, particularly when competition rather than community is a driving force behind putting on club nights.  Certainly for comparatively smaller community minded ‘niche’ music club night promoters, quality is more important than quantity.There are many negative reasons why people take flyers from distributors, these include: the already mentioned pity for the distributor; forceful distribution; clubbers going through the motions of taking flyers; out of politeness; out of guilt; and feeling under pressure.  It is the role of distributors to give out a set number of flyers, often in the least amount of time possible.  Individual street distributors often do not have a financial stakeholder interest in the success of the flyers that they distribute, so instead of selling the club night, they are selling the flyer.  This is potentially very wasteful for club night promoters where sums of money have been invested in flyers and flyering activities as a promotional medium.  Flyers taken by clubbers in this way are only kept by the majority of clubbers for ‘seconds’ or ‘minutes’ before disposal, this compares with ‘days’ (in the case of student clubbers) for statically placed flyers that have been voluntarily picked up by clubbers.  Many clubbers find on-street flyering activities an ‘annoyance’.  The general ‘hassle’ of constantly being approached by distributors to take something that they were not interested in was a nuisance to many clubbers.  On-street flyering was considered invasive by clubbers and ‘overkill’ was a theme, whereby there were simply too many distributors concentrated in particular areas.  The beginning of the academic year was identified by more than one promoter as a time when flyering activities are at their peak, this is to raise awareness of their club nights amongst new students and to enforce awareness upon returning students.  The sheer scale of such promotion (one Leeds promoter alone gives out 100,000 flyers in the first two weeks of term) may also be enforcing a negative image of these brands upon clubbers who do not want to be bothered by flyer distributors.  These comments are echoed by the environmental concerns that clubbers have over ‘waste’ in terms of paper being wasted on flyers and litter being created by flyers.  Despite the majority of clubbers taking flyers from on-street distributors, the ‘perception’ that clubbers have of on-street flyering activities is not positive, and is certainly mixed.  Flyers are augmented nightclub products, and are therefore representative of the club night that they promote, negative perceptions of flyering may also apply to the club nights which flyers promote.There was universal condemnation of club night flyers being distributed through letterboxes in the home and this included halls of residence.  This method of distribution was considered untargeted, an intrusion, wasteful and a health and safety risk.  The majority of clubbers indicated that they disposed of flyers distributed in this way within seconds.Despite everything negative that has been stated about flyers, there is evidence to suggest that they still play a roll in club night promotion.  Younger people are less likely to search for information about club nights than older people, particularly students.  If this information is ‘pushed’ upon them it could help in their decision making process, albeit if they are in the correct target market and responsive to this form of promotion.If flyer efficiency is expressed in terms of the amount of money spent on flyering activities being divided by the amount of money being generated by door income and ticket sales, the likelihood is that there is a greater efficiency where there is a genuine interest in the recipient of the flyer in the music of the club night than where there isn’t.  Promoters of ‘niche’ genre specific music nights who employ genuine fans of the music to distribute their flyers to the correct target market in the correct locations are likely to have a greater flyer efficiency than promoters of more musically mainstream club nights targeted towards a wider audience.  When this wide audience includes a significant proportion of students, a greater flyer efficiency is likely to be achieved when flyers include special offers as a part of their content.

Event Flyers: Classification, Conent, Design and Distribution

‘The purpose of a flyer is to convey information within a limited time-span’ (Lapow Toor, 1998, p.111).  Flyers are commonly used for announcing events, products and services, they can be used as a means of generating consumer footfall and sales (Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez, 2009).  They are one of many mass-communication marketing tools used by marketers and promoters, mass-communication indicates that flyers are a form of ‘push-promotion’ that are not specifically targeted at individuals personally (Moss, S, 2009).  A flyer should ‘draw attention to itself and capture’s people’s interest.  It gives them a reason to act immediately on that interest.  And it gives them the information they need to do so’ (Peterson and Vactor, 2002).  According to Crandall (2002), flyer’s are the cheapest form of written promotional materials.Rutherford Silvers (2003) state that flyers ‘create awareness and provide information’ (p.97), they are ‘an introduction, an ice-breaker and first step’ (Levinson and Godin, 1996, p.79).  Flyers can be used as part of a combined promotional campaign that is intended to create ‘buzz’ before an event takes place (Locicero, 2007).  In terms of event promotion the useful life-span of the flyer is mainly until the event takes place.  The majority of flyers are quickly disposed of by recipients of them, although retention of flyers up to and beyond events taking place may lead to brand reinforcement amongst customers, particularly if similar future events are held.  Sloane (2007) notes that flyers are often disposed of quickly by recipients due to poor design or them being distributed to the wrong target market.Flyers can also be used to gather consumer information, they may have a section, upon which customers may record personal details, such as contact details, which may be used by the flyer distributor to target the customer with specific marketing materials.  In such scenarios, providing this information is often incentivised and in return for this, the customer may be eligible for a gratuity such as a monetary discount or a free gift (Lipe, 2002).There is no universally recognised industry standard classification for flyer types, and the interpretation of what actually constitutes being a flyer varies, ‘terms such as catalogue, free sheet, circular or shopper can be found as synonyms for flyers’ (Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez, 2009, p.3).  Lapow Toor (1998), Peterson and Vactor (2002), Whitbread (2001) and Yadin (2002) state that a flyer is a single or double sided sheet of paper, where as Christiansen and Bjerre (2001) cited in (Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez, 2009) and Gagliardi (2006) state that a flyer should have a minimum of four pages.  Flyers are often typically classified by size, for example Lapow Toor (1998) classifies flyers by size using the following dimensions: 8 1/2” x 11”; 8 1/2” x 14”; and 11” x 17” (p.111).  Sources within the print industry use weight, size, paper finish and sometimes folds as a means of classifying flyers, however this mainly applies to those flyers that are printed upon paper.  Weight is given using the term gsm or gm, which stands for grams per square metre.  For example E-Printing (2010) classify flyers by their weight with the following classifications: 130gsm; 170gsm; 200gsm; 250gsm; and 300gsm – the higher the gsm, the better quality and more expensive is the paper.  E-Printing (2010) also use size as a way by which to classify flyer types, their sizes include: A3 (297 x 420mm); A4 (210 x 297mm); A5 (210 x 148mm); A6 (148 x 105mm); A7 (105 x 74mm) and DL (210 x 98mm).  Taking into account the fact that any size flyer can be printed on any gsm paper, there are 25 variants of flyer type just from what has been stated above.  This does not take into account the other formats that E-Printing produce such as folded leaflets and postcards (e-Printing offer five different formats of each), which from a promotional perspective could also be considered flyers.  In terms of paper finish, the most common types are ‘gloss’ and ‘silk’, the difference being that gloss has a high sheen finish giving it a more ‘shiny’ appearance.By searching the websites of other printers, similar results can be found.  Wales Print (2010) offer flyers in A4, A5, A6 and DL sizes, but only on 130 gsm paper.  They also offer A5 and A6 postcards on 350 gsm paper; four-page leaflets on A4, A5 and A6 130 gsm paper; and 6 page DL leaflets on 130 gsm paper.  Wales Print also offer A3 sizes, however they classify these as posters and not flyers.  Labcreation (2010) classify flyers and leaflets together, they offer folded leaflets in the following sizes: 3 x A4 folder three times to A4 size; A3 folded to A4; A4 folded to A5; and A4 folded to six-sided DL size.  In addition to this they offer A3, A4, A5, A6 and DL sized leaflets on a choice of 135, 170 and 250 gsm paper.  This demonstrates differences in classification by printers as to what is a flyer, leaflet or poster, and differences in paper weight used by printers, but at the same time it demonstrates similarities in standard paper sizes.  The lack of a universally recognised and industry standard typology for flyers is all too apparent.Flyers should be written in a typeface that is easily readable such as Sans Serif or Arial fonts as they are often skim-read (Lapow Toor, 1998).  Flyers should be catchy (Peterson and Vactor, 2002), colourful flyers are often eye-catching (Locicero, 2007).  Flyers should be designed with an attention seeking headline placed prominently, followed by a small amount of text containing essential information and a visual such as a photograph (Lapow Toor, 1998).  Levinson and Godin (1996) state that the headline on a flyer is one of the most important aspects to it, they also state that wording should be brief, including lists and bullet points, suggesting that the main information contained on a flyer should be: the headline; a positioning statement; an illustration or photo; a small amount of company information; and brief names and descriptions of products and services (p.78).  Peterson and Vactor (2002) state that a flyer should be a ‘one-subject announcement’ (p.84), and that event flyers should contain the following essential information: a logo; the event name and description; the location; contact details; time and date; a brief benefit statement; and a call to action (p.85).  Sloane (2007) states that flyers should contain a web address where interested parties may then search for further information about what the flyer is promoting.The theme of flyers including logos, design and wording should match other promotional mediums that are being used to highlight what it is the flyer is promoting, this helps to enforce brand awareness by promoting a consistent identity, thus creating a cohesive promotional campaign (Carter, 2007).  The presence of high-profile and recognisable brands on flyers can make them more appealing to consumers (Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez, 2009).  Spending large amounts of money on flyer design, including the material upon which it is printed, may not necessarily lead to improved sales, but it may convey a more successful image of the company using the flyer (Lipe, 2002).  Sloane (2007) suggests the use of thick high quality paper for flyers, although this does bring expense implications, Hayden (2006) states that if flyers look home-made or unprofessional, potential customers may view what the flyers are promoting in the same way.Levinson and Codin (1996) state that the use of humour on flyers can be effective in encouraging people to take them, although this may not be universally correct or appropriate.  Masterman and Wood (2005) suggest that flyer designs should be tested amongst audiences prior to production, including: concept tests, where focus groups made up of target audiences, may be used to discuss which words, colours and images best promote a theme; and rough tests, where rough drafts of flyer designs are put before members of the target audience for their reaction (p.32).  Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez (2009) recognise the difficulties in attempting to ascertain how effective flyers are.  ‘If the message has been developed with the target audiences’ specific characteristics in mind then it will use a frame of reference which they can relate to and will be understood and interpreted as intended’ (Masterman and Wood, 2005, p.  69).  Therefore it is perfectly natural for flyers aimed at one specific target market e.g.  teenagers, to be perfectly understandable to them, but not to another market, e.g.  their parents.  This also highlights the phenomenon of ‘culture gaps’, which are ‘a difference in values, behaviour, or customs between two cultures or groups of people, esp.  as a hindrance to mutual understanding and communication’ (OED, 2010).  It is therefore essential that when testing flyers designs, to do so with participants who are also a part of the target audience (Peterson and Vactor, 2002).Flyers are distributed by hand, door-to-door, inserted into newspapers and magazines, and handed out in areas where there are high volumes of passers-by such as exhibitions and street corners (Yadin, 2002).  Masterman and Wood (2005) concur, stating that once ‘attention has been gained they are more willing to accept the flyer’ (p.203).  Frazier (2008) states that flyers can be effectively distributed within magazines and newspapers that have the same target market as the flyer, meaning that flyers will be read in a leisurely way, possibly being more successful through being of interest to the reader.  Advertising alone ‘is not an effective way to gain a prospective client’s trust’ (Hayden, 2006, p.169), so personal distribution of flyers into the hands of potential customers may be advantageous, in that it allows for the additional element of dialogue between promoter and target audience.  Dialogue may help to enforce the message of the flyer, as well as building trust.Static flyers displayed in public places have the advantage of reaching a lot of people, if they are displayed in the right places (Lapow Toor, 1998).  Campion Devney (1991) additionally state that flyers placed in a variety of locations including museums, launderettes, gyms and supermarkets are useful for event promotion.  Debelak (2000) concurs, and states that flyers for events should also be used as part of the décor at events.  Flyers that are placed statically need to give people a reason to take the trouble to pick them up, special offers and discounts promoted on the flyer are one way of ensuring this (Hayden, 2006; Locicero, 2007).  This relates to the AIDA sales principle of attention, interest, desire and action (Carter, 2007).  Masterman and Wood (2005) concur, stating that once ‘attention has been gained they are more willing to accept the flyer’ (p.203), as well as the message it conveys.  Peterson and Vactor (2002) discuss how flyers should ‘funnel’ the attention of those who read them, this is very similar to the AIDA sales principle, and is known as a sales funnel.  Those consumers that are actively engaged in searching for discounts and special offers are more likely to be interested in reading flyers, and those who are not price-sensitive are least likely to be attracted by flyers (Gazquez-Abad and Sanchez-Perez, 2009).  Statically placed flyers have the disadvantage of not allowing for relational links to be established between promoter and potential customer.  ‘If the brand chooses to have only a purely commercial discourse, it denies itself the opportunity to form a more affective relational link’ (Lehu, 2007, p.224).  The power of such relational links, generated by positive word-of-mouth enforcement, along with promotion being portrayed as a genuine customer service offering can build trust amongst potential customers leading to an increased likelihood of sales being made (Semprini, 2005), and the flyer being a more successful promotional tool.Kumar (2003) suggests the use of eflyers as an alternative to physical paper flyers – in other words an electronic document of the printer flyer, such as an Adobe portable document format (PDF), to be emailed to interested parties.A contemporary issue with regards to flyer distribution (both statically placed flyers and flyers handed out in the street), is nuisance flyer distribution.  This is where flyer distribution may directly annoy those who are subjected to it, or where flyers may be contributing to litter.  If potential customers are annoyed by flyers, their annoyance may put them off what it is that the flyer is promoting (Feltenstein, 2005).  Flyer distributors causing large amounts of street litter, placing flyers under car windscreen wipers and attaching flyers to publicly used infrastructure such as bus shelters have lead to the introduction of legislation to combat this problem.  In the UK, this process is managed at ‘local’ level, often by councils.Campion Devney, D.  (1991) Organizing special events and conferences: A practical guide for busy volunteers and staff.  Sarasota, Florida, Pineapple Press.Carter, L.  (2007) Event planning.  Bloomington, Indianna, AuthorHouse.Crandall, R.  (2002) Marketing your services for people who hate to sell.  New York, McGraw-Hill.Debelak, D.  (2000) Streetwise marketing plan.  Avon, Massachusetts, Adams Media.E-Printing.  (2010) Full colour flyer printing / poster printing services.  [Internet] Nottingham, E-Printing.  URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.Feltenstein, T.  (2005) 401 killer marketing tactics to increase sales, maximise profits, and stomp your competition.  New York, McGraw-Hill.Frazier, S.G.  (2008) Marketing strategies for the home-based business.  Guilford, Connecticut, Globe Pequot Press.Gagliardi, G.  (2006) Making money by speaking: The spokesperson strategy for marketing your expertise.  Seattle, Clearbridge Publishing.Gazquez-Abad, J.C.  and Sanchez-Perez, M.  (2009) How store flyers affect consumer choice behaviour: National brands V store brands.  European Retail Research.  Vol.  23, Issue 1, pp.  1 – 20.Hayden, C.J.  (2006) Get clients now: A 28 day marketing program for professionals, consultants and coaches.  New York, AMACOM.Kumar, B.  Run against media violence: Entertainment violence against children.  Don’t buy.  Don’t support.  Lincoln, Nebraska, iUniverse.Labcreation.  (2010) Labcreation full colour printing.  [Internet] Manchester, Labcreation.  URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.Lapow Toor, M.  (1998) Graphic design on the desktop: A guide for the non-designer.  2nd edition.  New York, John Wiley and Sons.  Lehu, J.M.  (2007) Branded entertainment.  London, Kogan Page.Levinson, J.C.  and Godin, S.  (1996) Guerrilla marketing for the home-based business.  Boston, Houghton Mifflin.Lipe, J.B.  (2002) The marketing toolkit for growing businesses.  Minneapolis, Chammerson Press.Locicero, J.  (2007) Streetwise meeting and event planning: From tradeshows to conventions, fundraisers to galas, everything you need for a successful business event.  Avon, Massachusetts, Adams Media.Masterman, G.  and Wood, E.  (2005) Innovative marketing communications: Strategies for the event industry.  Oxford, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.Moss, S.  ed.  (2009) The entertainment industry: An introduction.  Wallingford, CAB International.Oxford English Dictionary.  (2010) Oxford English Dictionary.  [Internet] Oxford, Oxford University.  URL available from: Accessed 5th August, 2010.Peterson, S.L.  and Vactor, K.  (2002) Starting and running your own martial arts school.  Boston, Tuttle Publishing.Rutherford Silvers, J.  (2003) Professional event coordination.  Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons.Semprini, A.  (2005) La marque, une puissance fragile.  Paris, Vuibert.Sloane, R.  (2007) 121 marketing ideas to grow your small business.  St.  Albans, Hertfordshire, Ecademy Press.Wales Print.  (2010) Online colour print.  [Internet] Port Talbot, Wales Print.  URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.Whitbread, D.  (2001) The Design Manual.  Sydney, University of New South Wales.Yadin, D.  (2002) The international dictionary of marketing: Over 1000 professional terms and techniques.  London, Kogan Page.

Clubbers in Leeds and Flyers

The information contained within this blog post is edited highlights from the conclusion to the Leeds Clubber Survey 2010, which focussed heavily on the attitudes that clubbers in Leeds have to flyers and flyering activities.Clubbers in Leeds are venue-loyal repeat visitors to the same club nights on a regular basis.  The single largest influence upon them in choosing a venue is word of mouth from their friends and associates with whom they go clubbing.  Clubbing is a social activity and this means that the most successful promotional methods, which might influence visitation to club nights are those that are also social by nature.  Word of mouth and social media are therefore highly influential in the minds of clubbers.  The involvement of friends and peers in the decision making process with regards to club night visitation is vital.  Flyers alone are not social, particularly statically placed flyers and flyers posted through letter boxes, and whilst out of all promotional media they are the most successful, they are considerably less successful than word of mouth and social media are in terms of influencing clubbers.  Clubbers in Leeds have a love / hate relationship with flyers, while 42% of clubbers overall and 49% of student clubbers are influenced by flyers ‘regularly’ or ‘all of the time’, they consider flyers a waste of paper and damaging to the environment.  The most important aspect about flyers to clubbers in Leeds (and particularly student clubbers) is that they contain a monetary benefit to them, which is more likely to encourage clubbers to pick up a flyer than any aspect of its design or written information contained upon it.  Price-conscious students are almost twice as likely to pick up and take statically placed flyers than non-students from both nightclubs and pubs / bars, while they are on the hunt for a bargain.Clubbers that have a particular interest in specific ‘niche’ genres of music, are more likely to be interested in the written content of flyers, than those who are interested in more mainstream chart and commercial music.On street distribution of flyers is an emotive issue for many clubbers, which on the questionnaire attracted a wide range of qualitative comments.  The majority of clubbers do take flyers from people in the street (81%), but the importance of the appearance of the person giving out the flyer is greater than the flyers content.  This enforces the point raised above about the importance of social involvement in the promotional process.  Flyers being placed statically for customers to take themselves, and being dropped through letterboxes do not allow for an affective relational link to be made.  This is a key advantage that flyering in public places by flyer distributors directly into the hands of potential customers can have, however the manner by which this is undertaken is key.Clubbers are more likely to take flyers from distributors who are friendly and who they find physically attractive - in essence, sex does sell, and this is possibly one reason why sexual imagery is often featured on club night promotional materials.  In terms of flyer content, special offers are the most important feature on a flyer to clubbers and in particular students.  Clubbers are also more inclined to take flyers if they are distributed in the correct locations.  Outside of, and near to clubs at the beginning and end of a night is a favoured location by clubbers for accepting flyers, providing the club night being promoted on the flyer is correctly targeted e.g.  that dubstep nights are promoted outside of dubstep nights at other clubs, so that leaving clubbers can take with them the information to digest.  This suggests that clubbers are more susceptible to on-street flyer distribution while they are in the process of clubbing than when they are not, and when they can see a connection between themselves and what it is that the flyer is promoting.Other positive reasons why clubbers may choose to take flyers from distributors include: a friendly appearance of the distributor; a shared musical interest with the distributor; and the distributor appearing representative of the club night, i.e.  being into the ‘scene’.  This is especially important to clubbers who have a specific ‘niche’ musical interest such as basslines, dubstep, hip hop or heavy metal.  This again points towards a social and relational link assisting the promotion of club nights, where there is a common bond between clubber and distributor.  The quality of the flyer transaction is being lost as promoters grow financially, particularly when competition rather than community is a driving force behind putting on club nights.  Certainly for comparatively smaller community minded ‘niche’ music club night promoters, quality is more important than quantity.There are many negative reasons why people take flyers from distributors, these include: the already mentioned pity for the distributor; forceful distribution; clubbers going through the motions of taking flyers; out of politeness; out of guilt; and feeling under pressure.  It is the role of distributors to give out a set number of flyers, often in the least amount of time possible.  Individual street distributors often do not have a financial stakeholder interest in the success of the flyers that they distribute, so instead of selling the club night, they are selling the flyer.  This is potentially very wasteful for club night promoters where sums of money have been invested in flyers and flyering activities as a promotional medium.  Flyers taken by clubbers in this way are only kept by the majority of clubbers for ‘seconds’ or ‘minutes’ before disposal, this compares with ‘days’ (in the case of student clubbers) for statically placed flyers that have been voluntarily picked up by clubbers.  Many clubbers find on-street flyering activities an ‘annoyance’.  The general ‘hassle’ of constantly being approached by distributors to take something that they were not interested in was a nuisance to many clubbers.  On-street flyering was considered invasive by clubbers and ‘overkill’ was a theme, whereby there were simply too many distributors concentrated in particular areas.  The beginning of the academic year was identified by more than one promoter as a time when flyering activities are at their peak, this is to raise awareness of their club nights amongst new students and to enforce awareness upon returning students.  The sheer scale of such promotion (one Leeds promoter alone gives out 100,000 flyers in the first two weeks of term) may also be enforcing a negative image of these brands upon clubbers who do not want to be bothered by flyer distributors.  These comments are echoed by the environmental concerns that clubbers have over ‘waste’ in terms of paper being wasted on flyers and litter being created by flyers.  Despite the majority of clubbers taking flyers from on-street distributors, the ‘perception’ that clubbers have of on-street flyering activities is not positive, and is certainly mixed.  Flyers are augmented nightclub products, and are therefore representative of the club night that they promote, negative perceptions of flyering may also apply to the club nights which flyers promote.There was universal condemnation of club night flyers being distributed through letterboxes in the home and this included halls of residence.  This method of distribution was considered untargeted, an intrusion, wasteful and a health and safety risk.  The majority of clubbers indicated that they disposed of flyers distributed in this way within seconds.Despite everything negative that has been stated about flyers, there is evidence to suggest that they still play a roll in club night promotion.  Younger people are less likely to search for information about club nights than older people, particularly students.  If this information is ‘pushed’ upon them it could help in their decision making process, albeit if they are in the correct target market and responsive to this form of promotion.If flyer efficiency is expressed in terms of the amount of money spent on flyering activities being divided by the amount of money being generated by door income and ticket sales, the likelihood is that there is a greater efficiency where there is a genuine interest in the recipient of the flyer in the music of the club night than where there isn’t.  Promoters of ‘niche’ genre specific music nights who employ genuine fans of the music to distribute their flyers to the correct target market in the correct locations are likely to have a greater flyer efficiency than promoters of more musically mainstream club nights targeted towards a wider audience.  When this wide audience includes a significant proportion of students, a greater flyer efficiency is likely to be achieved when flyers include special offers as a part of their content.

Recommendations to club night promoters for smarter use of flyers