Hotel brunches: a clever diversification to boost brand awareness and revenues?

1,800 Parisian establishments offer brunch on Tripadvisor in 2020, compared with 300 in 2011. The craze is real. This desired formula is very similar to what you'd find at a hotel breakfast buffet. It's a real opportunity to attract outside customers and raise the profile of our catering offer.

What's on the brunch menu? Hot drinks, fruit juices, pastries, bread, eggs, cheese, cold cuts, fruit, desserts... Sounds like the description of a hotel breakfast buffet, doesn't it? Yes, it does - andhotels have everything to gain from opening up their lunchtime service to the outside world by adding brunch to their menu. We'll tell you why:

Hotels have undeniable advantages when it comes to offering brunches

• Hotel breakfast buffets already include everything you'd expect to find at a brunch: pastries, bread, eggs, cold meats, sometimes salmon, vegetables, desserts, cold drinks...

• So adapting a hotel breakfast buffet requires few changes. Staffing costs are also limited, as guests often help themselves directly from the buffet.

What's in it for a hotel when it comes to brunch?

Improve revenues on weekend lunchtime services

While the majority of hotel guests have breakfast on the premises, hotel restaurants still struggle to establish themselves as fully-fledged establishments in which non-hotel guests can dine. Improving your occupancy rate for weekend breakfast services (generally on Sundays) is a way of attracting customers from outside the hotel.

Gain local recognition

Offering an attractive brunch formula enables an establishment to introduce its restaurant to local residents who might not otherwise have the opportunity to stay at the hotel. This helpsestablish the establishment's local roots, attracting and building loyalty among restaurant customers, who are likely to return regularly for lunch or dinner if they are satisfied.

How can you effectively communicate your brunch offer?

To win brunch customers and increase your reputation, you first need to spread the word about the brunch, then entice potential customers to come and try it, and then nurture your online reputation. Here's some advice:

Offer an insert or page for the Brunch offer on the establishment's website:

TheGrand Powers Hotel has posted a description of its brunch (both plated and buffet) on its website, along with times and menu details.

Promote brunch on apps or websites dedicated to finding restaurants

Platforms such as La Fourchette, Tripadvisor, Yelp, L'Internaute... offer visibility to the brunch formula. Some hotels, like the Warwick Paris, highlight their brunch offer on La Fourchette, with an indication of the offer on the day in question. Other establishments offer special promotions on La Fourchette to attract customers.

Reference your Brunch offer in relevant directories that are already well referenced for all Brunch queries

Dedicated sites such as Oubruncher.com are particularly well referenced on brunch-specific queries, with their links appearing among the first on Google. As a result, they offer a relevant showcase to promote your offer. Please note that they are generally subject to a fee: €280 excluding VAT for 1 year outside Paris, €390 for Paris.

The OFF Paris Seine hotel has listed its brunch offer on the site, which is valid again (from October 10). Not alone, the Mariott Champs Elysées has also published its Sunday brunch offer on oubruncher.com.

Promote the brunch on the company's financial statements

The Grand Powers Hotel has thus diversified its business by offering brunch, and is promoting it on Instagram. The establishment not only shares photos of its brunch tables but has also "story-anchored" a presentation video, meaning that all visitors to the Grand Powers Instagram page will see the brunch video under the bio (description of the establishment).

Carry out press and influencer relations work

To build awareness of a brunch, it's important to benefit from press, media and influencer coverage. Sharing feedback from journalists on the relevant media, as well as bloggers and Instagrammers on their social media , not only raises awareness of the brunch's existence, but also makes people want to go if the feedback is glowing.

Some Parisian hotels have understood this and have succeeded in gaining notoriety with their brunch offer - more affordable than an overnight stay, but of a remarkably high standard - and turning their Sunday lunch services into a new profit center.

The most successful hotel brunches have invested in press relations and influencers

Get on the right media to raise your profile

In addition to the booking and referencing platforms dedicated to restaurants, it's important to be promoted by the local press and/or the press specialized in restaurants, arts of living and lifestyle. This means identifying the relevant media beforehand, and choosing the right PR and e-RP agency.

In Paris, for example, Sortir à Paris and Le Bonbon regularly share content on the city's best brunches, including hotel brunches.

Collaborate with influencers to benefit from their prescription power with their audiences

Inviting influencers to discover your brunch means ensuring visibility on social media, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative because influencers by definition have an audience of at least several thousand people, and qualitative on the one hand because they produce quality content (photos, videos, stories, articles...) and because they share their experiences with their trusted community. Finding the right influencers therefore means identifying those who already speak to your targets and have their trust.

The Marriott Champs Élysées collaborated with fitness influencer Emma, as well as with Laura, a food influencer specializing in brunches, whom we previously featured here. Laura devoted a detailed article to her experience at the Marriott Champs Élysées hotel, as well as a post on her Instagram account that generated over 2,000 interactions.

The Hoxton hotel and its Rivié restaurant is another good example. It invites numerous influencers to come and try the brunch and create quality content around it, which the establishment also shares in publications on its page.

To find out more about how to set up a brunch offer in your restaurant, as well as the trends, challenges and opportunities behind it, check out our dedicated article here! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at contact@malou.io

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