HQ Theatres & Hospitality
Showstopping Food & Drink
Helping one of the UK’s largest theatre companies reposition its hospitality offering.
Restaurant attendance grew by 25% and our pre-order drinks app sales doubled year-on-year
Mark Hollington
Hospitality Manager HQ Theatres
Our challenge
HQ Theatres & Hospitality comprises 12 of the UK’s premier theatre venues. The problem was each venue communicated their food and drink offering differently – resulting in 12 disconnected hospitality brands across the group. In short, none of the brands successfully connected food and drink with the show on stage.
The result was a disjointed experience for theatregoers; and missed opportunities for the business.
Our strategy
If food and drink was ever going to become a connected part of the theatre experience, we needed a creative thread to link it seamlessly.
“Showstopping Food & Drink” did just this, amplifying what was once a secondary consideration for theatregoers, making it an intrinsic part of the experience.
A snapshot from the brand book
Creative expression
We created a dynamic illustrative style showcasing performers interacting with food and drink, enhanced by messaging which connected the experience.
Generating ROI
We engaged theatregoers at key dining moments: Pre-show, during intervals, and after the show. This resulted in a 25% increase in restaurant attendance.
Building brand awareness
We applied the brand identity to high-visibility items, including eco-friendly drinks cups, tote bags and more, ensuring the brand literally walked out of the theatre.
The option to pre-book food and drink is now integrated into the checkout experience.
Client feedback
The change in our operation since undertaking this project with Tom has been incredible. It was an opportunity to push reset on the years and years of localisation and create one cohesive brand.
The standard of our offering was excellent, but we weren’t articulating or selling it very well.
After completing the branding overhaul with Tom our restaurant’s attendance grew by 25% and our pre-order drinks app sales doubled year-on-year.
Tom took our brief and totally reimagined it, guiding us through the process, identifying challenges and opportunities we could not see ourselves.
He took the time to understand the sensitivities of local leadership in theatres and identified the steps we needed to take to improve the standard of presentation and the effectiveness of our confused sales messages.
He created a simple yet stunningly attractive concept in ‘Showstopping Food & Drink’ – for the first time linking our hospitality offering with its immediate surrounding of the arts and theatre. This truly joined up our messages and made what was a somewhat separate experience feel like an integral part of the guest journey.
Mark Hollington
Hospitality Manager, HQ Theatres
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