PUB NEWS: PIGNOLET BACK AT BISTRO MONCUR WHILE YOUNG HENRY’S TAKES ‘THE BREWIN’ TRANSFER’ CHALLENGE
Damien Pignolet, the original founder of Bistro Moncur in Sydney’s Woollahra Hotel, officially returned to the venue on June 1 as culinary ambassador.
Pignolet was a co-owner of the hotel and opened the now iconic French Bistro in 1993 in a ground-breaking move for the Sydney pub scene at the time.
Current owners Public House Management Group (PHMG) purchased the venue in 2011 following the death of Pignolet’s business partner Ron White.
PHMG offered him the ambassador role when he recently returned to the venue to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
In his new role, Pignolet will mentor chefs and front of house staff, develop innovation among the team, consult on and develop menus and attend special events at the venue throughout the year.
Mark Waugh PHMG CEO said, “We are thrilled to welcome Damien back in an official capacity and are hugely excited to see what we can achieve together. We can think of no one better suited to driving forward opportunity and innovation while respecting and honouring our heritage.”
YOUNG HENRYS OFFERS UP LADY BEER
As part of 2018 Good Beer Week, the entrepreneurial folk at Young Henrys – the popular craft brewer found in pubs and clubs across Sydney – took on the Cherry Tree Hotel’s challenge to make an ad “aimed squarely and solely at women” for the annual Good Beer Week event: ‘The Brewin Transfer’. Here’s what they came up with.
The spot pokes fun at the pink fantasyland of femininity that brands so often use to try to appeal to women with pink razors and pink pens.
“Women drink beer for the same reasons that men do. Why do they need a pink coloured can?” questioned marketing manager Andy Miller. “We’ve reached peak lady ads so we thought it was time for someone to hold up a mirror to it and parody it in a playful, positive way and show its utter BS,” he says.
“There hasn’t been much difference between beers traditionally,” he says.
“Typically they spend loads of money on epic, creative and quite funny ads. I love the Big Ad, and some of the other ads by big companies have been entertaining but I think society has moved beyond that shallow messaging and are looking for a brand that stands for something and has something to say.”
Purpose has driven Young Henry’s from its humble beginnings five years ago, growing from a beer appreciation club, says Miller.
Today, it is sold in more than 500 venues as well as bottle shops nationally and it’s just hit 70 employees.
It has ridden the rise of craft beers in Australia and challenged mainstream beers. Young Henry’s has avoided “shouting” at people through main broadcast channels, like TV and outdoor, and has instead taken a grassroots strategy, sponsoring local music events, podcasts and community radio station FBI.
“We think it’s a given you make good beer, so we tend not to talk about that, instead we put energy into finding like-minded people and organisations that we can get involved with.”
The brand also relies heavily on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
“We aren’t parachuting Young Henry’s into events that don’t fit our purpose. We are actively part of the community and that’s the critical difference between how some bigger brands talk community and how we relate to it,” Miller says.
Source: Young Henrys & Ad News
