How To Make A Hospitality Promotion Actually Matter
Free Food Is Never Just Free Food
In hospitality, promotions are everywhere.
2-for-1s.
25% off.
Kids eat free.
Flash discounts in February when it’s quiet.
Most of them quietly erode margin without building brand.
But when done properly, a promotion can deliver:
Daytime national TV coverage
Tabloid headlines
Blanket regional media
Influencer amplification
Search demand
Physical queues
We’ve just delivered exactly that for Chopstix with a Chinese New Year campaign and it’s a perfect example of what separates strategic promotions from desperate discounting.
Why Most Hospitality Promotions Don’t Work
The problem isn’t giving something away.
The problem is how brands do it.
Most promotions are:
Reactive
Short-term
Built purely for footfall
Too small to matter
Disconnected from culture
They generate a short spike in sales and then disappear.
Worse, they train customers to wait for the next deal.
What Makes a Promotion Worth Running?
Here’s what made the Chopstix campaign different.
1. It Was Tied to a Cultural Moment
Chinese New Year isn’t arbitrary.
It’s:
Timely
Relevant
Searchable
Already part of the national conversation
That context turns an offer into a story. Without context, a promotion is just a transaction. With context, it becomes culturally aligned brand activity.
2. It Was Big Enough to Create Noise
200 free small boxes in every store.
Not 10. Not a single location. Not an underwhelming mechanic.
Scale creates visibility. Visibility creates coverage. If it doesn’t create tension, urgency or scale — it won’t create conversation.
Small promotions protect margin but rarely build brand. Strategic scale builds both.
3. It Was Built for PR, Not Just Sales
This is where most brands fall short.
They launch an offer and post it on Instagram.
The campaign was built with media in mind from day one.
That meant:
Securing This Morning with The Coupon King
Landing coverage in The Sun
Driving regional press across the UK
Integrating influencers
Now the giveaway isn’t just a cost centre.
It’s a content engine. A media hook. A national conversation starter.
The Commercial Case for Smarter Promotions
When done properly, promotions should drive:
Footfall
Brand visibility
Media coverage
Influencer reach
Retail buzz
Long-term brand positioning
In this case, Chopstix isn’t just discounting in February. They’re part of Chinese New Year.
That positioning matters.
The Unfiltered Truth
Promotion fatigue is real. But the solution isn’t fewer promotions - it’s smarter ones.
If your campaign isn’t:
Relevant
Timely
Newsworthy
Big enough to matter
Built for amplification
Rare
It probably isn’t worth running. And if a journalist wouldn’t cover it, you should ask why.
Want to Build Campaigns That Drive People to Places?
At Down at the Social, we combine intelligence, ideas and influence to drive impact.
We don’t just create offers.
We create moments.
If you want your next promotion to do more than erode margin, get in touch.