Hailed as “the number one Latin nightclub in New Jersey” by the New York Times, Coco Bongo has set the standard for nightlife and live entertainment in Elizabeth, NJ for over 7 years.

Objectives:

Coco Bongo advertises their special events and concerts extensively, using radio, email, print and online marketing. The challenge for marketing director Hillary Gomez was to find a more direct way to reach out to their clientele so that customers felt a personal attachment to the club. Hillary decided to partner with Club Texting based on the service’s affordability and wide range of product features.

Solution:

Coco Bongo launched their text messaging campaign in January 2008, quickly adding a text messaging call-to-action on all promotional materials, and gaining a phenomenal reaction from customers, largely due to the fact that Coco Bongo offered free admission and drink specials just for signing up. They also advertised with two of the largest Spanish radio stations in the tri-state area, and every commercial included the tagline “Text the word BONGO to the number C-L-U-B-S (25827) to receive VIP specials and free admission!”

But one of their simplest solutions to grow foot traffic was using Club Texting website signup widgets. Every time Coco Bongo advertised, they mentioned their website. Getting the word out about their website as a way of drawing traffic to it led visitors directly to their SMS signup form, which offered an easy way for potential customers to sign up to receive special offers, invitations and announcements. This enabled Coco Bongo to not only get the word out about their club, but to keep in touch with their audience and maintain interest and engagement for future events.

Coco Bongo values their customers and always makes the effort to “give something back” in each message they send. Announcements are generally sent between 2pm and 5pm, always on the same day of the event. Below is one example:

MISS COCO BONGO 2008 CONTEST TONIGHT WIN UP TO $50,000! DRINK FOR ONLY 50c ALL NIGHT, LADIES FREE B4 11PM WITH THIS TEXT. INFO: (908)527-1928.

With the introduction of multimedia messaging (MMS) to Club Texting, users have the ability to send not only text invitations, but also images, video, audio or GIFs to entertain and impress recipients.

Outcome:

"Club Texting offers a great service, and the best rates. The online [customer] service is phenomenal and I always get a rapid response on behalf of its staff. Text messaging is definitely the # 1 marketing strategy that we at Coco Bongo abide by."- Hillary Gomez, Coco Bongo

In just three months, Coco Bongo was able to completely abandon the use of all print advertising – including flyers – and rely solely on text messaging, radio, and emails. In the first month alone, they accumulated over 1,000 subscribers and have continued to grow from there.