Bar Coasters Advertising

Bar Coasters Advertising

Bar Coasters Advertising

Looking for a creative way to get your brand in front of customers? Imagine your message in the hands of every customer during their favorite happy hour hangout. Bar coaster advertising is a game-changer, offering a high-visibility platform right under customers’ hands during their favorite downtime—whether at a bar, restaurant, or café. With every drink, your message stays front and center, turning casual sips into powerful brand impressions. Want to see how brands use this unique tactic to create lasting connections?

Bar Coasters Advertising

HOW IT WORKS

Bar coaster advertising transforms everyday coasters into impactful ad spaces. Each coaster serves as a “mobile billboard,” placed directly in the hands of customers in bars, restaurants, or cafés. Ads on coasters benefit from the relaxed, social setting, creating a high level of engagement and brand recall. They can also include QR codes for interactive experiences, such as contests or exclusive content.

Options for Advertising

Businesses can customize campaigns by targeting specific demographics, regions, or interests. Examples include snack brands launching QR code contests, media companies promoting shows, and universities driving student engagement. Ads can encourage direct interaction, such as scanning codes for discounts or sharing on social media.

Impacts of bar coaster advertising:

This method boasts high exposure, with each coaster viewed multiple times by customers over long visits, creating up to 700,000 impressions per month at a low CPM of $1-$5. The unique setting allows brands to achieve recall rates far exceeding those of traditional advertising, making bar coaster campaigns a cost-effective choice for brand visibility.

Benefits of bar coaster advertising

This innovative approach ensures repeated exposure in a captive setting, leading to enhanced brand recall. It is highly cost-effective, with a measurable ROI, especially for localized campaigns. The format’s novelty captures attention, making it ideal for promoting events, products, or digital experiences.

Targeting: We take targeting to the next level by leveraging demographic profiling to ensure your ad reaches the right audience every time. Whether it’s age, gender, DMA, or even spending habits, we tailor the venues where your ads appear to align perfectly with your specific target market. It’s precision marketing at its best—placing your message in front of the right people, in the right places, for maximum impact.
Reach and impressions: The bar coaster advertising program can be run locally or nationwide since most metropolitan regions are covered. This is a guaranteed impression as the consumers take the bar coasters in their hands. Approximately 2,000 coasters are distributed by each venue per month.  Each coaster is viewed 8-12 times by (on average) 3-4 other people daily, generating 32-50 impressions over 7 days. Depending on how busy the venue is selected, this translates into 500,000 to 700,000 monthly impressions and an impressive CPM ranging from $1 to $3. Now, put this into the perspective of other media:
Recall rate: Bar coasters advertising goes beyond just generating impressions—it’s about creating a lasting impact that drives recall rates.

Use Cases

Brands across various industries have found unique and creative ways to leverage bar coasters for their interactive campaigns. Let’s explore a few case studies:
Snack Manufacturer: A popular snack brand launched a campaign featuring a QR code on bar coasters. The code led customers to an online contest, where patrons could scan the code to enter sweepstakes to win a year’s supply of snacks, driving both online engagement and product awareness.
Entertainment Company: A media company promoting a new TV show used bar coasters in bars across major cities. By scanning the coaster’s QR code, patrons could view exclusive sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes footage of the show. This drove social media buzz and created excitement around the premiere.
University Recruitment: A university used bar coasters to target college-age students during enrollment season. The coasters encouraged students to scan the code and sign up for an open house event. The result? An increase in attendance and awareness of their academic programs.

ReLATED CASES

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How Lone Star College Used Pizza Boxes to Boost Student Enrollment

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Metrics

Offices by DMA or Zip Code

3 Hours

500.000-700.000
Impressions per month

2.000
unitis per venue per month

FAQ Section

Bar coaster advertising involves placing branded messages, visuals, or promotional content directly on coasters in bars, pubs, or restaurants. These coasters are used by customers during their visit, creating multiple impressions of the brand message as they enjoy their food and drinks.
Bar coaster ads are highly effective for brand awareness because they offer repeated exposure. Since patrons spend extended time in bars or restaurants, they are likelier to notice and interact with the ads, especially in relaxed settings. The novelty of the format also helps in brand recall compared to traditional advertising.
Bar coaster ads are ideal for businesses targeting:
Local businesses looking to reach nearby customers (restaurants, bars, gyms)
Entertainment companies promoting concerts, events, or new releases
Food and beverage brands promoting new products
Apps and online platforms that want to encourage downloads or sign-ups from social settings
To design an effective bar coasters ad use bold, eye-catching visuals that stand out in a crowded environment. Keep the message simple and direct; focus on a single offer or CTA (e.g., a QR code leading to a discount or digital experience). Include a call-to-action encouraging immediate interaction, such as “Scan for a free drink!” or “Follow us on Instagram.”
Yes, bar coaster ads can be a powerful tool to drive digital engagement. Brands can track user interaction by incorporating QR codes that lead to social media profiles, websites, or promotions. This not only increases the effectiveness of the campaign but also provides measurable results on engagement rates.
Bar coaster advertising tends to be more cost-effective than traditional forms of advertising, like billboards or digital ads. With low production costs and high visibility in a concentrated environment, the Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) can be significantly lower. For local campaigns, this can lead to excellent ROI.
Creative use cases for bar coaster ads include gaming companies promoting app downloads or new games by placing QR codes on coasters; universities promoting online courses or enrollment with campus-themed visuals; legal firms, such as DUI lawyers, using bar coasters in bars to raise awareness about their services in high-risk settings.
To track the success of a bar coaster ad campaign, include QR codes linked to custom landing pages or promotions, Unique promo codes that can be redeemed online or in-store; Monitor social media hashtags or UGC (user-generated content) where patrons might share pictures of the coasters online.

Bar Coasters advertising offers a unique blend of hyper-local targeting, high visibility, and cost-effectiveness, making it an underrated tool for advertisers looking to reach specific audiences. Ready to explore how this method can drive results for your brand? Request our Media Kit today to explore the possibilities further.

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