On Saturday February 27, 2016 Lighthouse Beer and Wine will be hosting their 18th Anniversary Party. Lighthouse is known for having a very diverse selection of seasonal and high quality beer, as well as a broad assortment of wine. They attract a wide variety of customers and have made a name for themselves in Wilmington, NC. They are also known for having their annual beer and wine festival in the fall, but they are planning this party to keep customers engaged all year round. This event is being advertised as the company’s 18th Birthday. Customers are being told to “Come and Celebrate” and Lighthouse is using the slogan “It is our Birthday, so let’s party!” This is a great way to promote an event because it portrays the event as a celebration rather than trying to bring in customers or profit.
They have been advertising this event for the past month with great success. One of the first strategies Lighthouse used was the creation of a Facebook event page to gauge how many people would be interested in the event. They had over 600 people show interest and 200 say they were going. This is a good way to estimate how many people might be in attendance, which also indicates how effective the campaign was. Facebook events are also a great tool to spread the word around, especially with the audience they are targeting. Their target audience consists of anyone over the age of twenty-one. Most people who have said they are going are between the ages of twenty-one and thirty. Lighthouse has also been using word of mouth marketing to promote this event. This type of marketing works really well in communities like Wilmington because so many people interact with each other on a daily basis be it school, work, the beach, or downtown. Since Wilmington has a wide variety of people, Lighthouse makes sure to offer a huge selection of beer and wine to accommodate any taste. Not only does this increase their clientele, but also shows their diverse pallet and that they are more than just your average craft beer store. Although this is a promotional campaign, the fact that they are celebrating 18 years of business ultimately proves that their unique and distinct niche in the community has set them on the path of long term success, which really should be celebrated!
So, what are your thoughts on their Anniversary Party campaign? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
-Austin, Jonathan, & Kaela
IMC Hawks Blog 
Lighthouse is such a great WB treasure! It is so great to see them continue in their success. Great point about Facebook working well in a community like Wilmington and Wrightsville. The addition of the “interested” option for events has been particularly helpful to my event planning recently. I often encourage the people I invite via Facebook to select “interested” even if they likely can not attend an event. This bumps the event into more news feeds, thus helps reach a wider audience. It seems like Lighthouse might also be finding this strategy helpful with over 600 interested but only 200 confirmed. I hope their party is as successful as their last 18 years in business!
As you said I think promoting the anniversary as a celebrating rather than trying to make money is a very good idea. We all know this demographic of 21-30 will show up for a party, but when they are asked to give money aren’t so interested. I also agree that a Facebook group event is a very effective way to spread the word, but could give false hope of how many people will be attending. I have seen several instances of people seeing the event, thinking it is cool, hit that they are going, and then forget about it or not show up. I would suggest different ways of trying to get a better estimate of who will actually be attending.
This event sounds really cool! I agree that emphasizing the event as a big party for everyone was a successful marketing tool. Also, celebrating how long they have been in business displays how successful and popular they are and why you should participate in their event. While Facebook is a good way to spread awareness and gauge interest, I do not think it is the most effective or most accurate way to increase and gauge the size of the event. I think that word or mouth is a good tool for marketing in Wilmington because we are such a small and connected community.
I love Lighthouse! The atmosphere of the beer garden outside on a nice sunny day is so relaxing and a great place to go to meet with a couple of friends! I think this event sounds like a lot of fun if I am not a work, I will be there! The forms of marketing they are using to get the word out about the “celebration” is great. Facebook is helpful with event planning because like stated above, it helps the event planner know how many people are thinking about attending and which age group to expect. Using word of mouth is another great way to get people to come considering it will spread quickly because of how small the city is. The place holds a great reputation for fun so it only takes a few people around campus to spread the word before it is known throughout the college campus and at workplaces throughout the city! This place is in such a great location perfect for both Wrightsville and Wilmington locals to get together and have fun.
As a Wilmington local, I have to say that Lighthouse Beer and Wine is a staple in the community. While you may be thinking how can something that only is served to those over 21 be representative of a whole community? Well, it’s not the unique brews (although they are excellent) that sets Lighthouse apart from other hang-out spots, it’s their attitude and lifestyle that they embody in their work that sets the tone for a relaxing drink. Creator Jason Adams is very involved in the UNCW community, and as a former UNCW student himself, he is active in helping the UNCW Entrepreneurship program gain ground around town. This good spirit, and helpful nature is the reason that Lighthouse is what it is today, and that very message should be the heart of their marketing campaign.
Lighthouse has been a great spot for as long as I can remember. I grew up here in Wilmington so for my 21st birthday I went there and got my first keg filled. I am a huge fan of good, especially North Carolina native brews. They are smart to use Facebook as a tool to advertise and guage the size of attendance of the event. It is an easy way to reach out to the community and get younger and older beer and wine drinkers engaged. Great Company!