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Project Overview
The Wheatsheaf Hotel is South Australia’s number one craft beer pub and a popular community hub. It regularly hosts live bands and art exhibitions and is a venue for special events and after parties.
The Wheaty app enables patrons to keep an eye on what is up and coming, highlighting bands and art soon to be appearing at The Wheatsheaf. Push notifications allows the Wheaty staff to make exciting announcements to their subscribers.
Content on the app is pulled directly from the Wheaty's website, which uses Freerange's open source content management system, Gluttonberg.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Freerange Future is a design studio based in Adelaide working with community, arts and event focussed organisations. We have a particular emphasis on strategy, innovation and story-telling.
Lead Designer: Amy Milhinch
Senior Developer: Yuri Tomanek
Project Brief
This is the official app for the Wheatsheaf Hotel in Thebarton, developed as a gift to their patrons for their 9th birthday.
The Wheaty is a unique pub. It has nine craft beer taps that change daily. The Wheaty app sends out a push notification when new kegs are tapped and beer nerds come running from miles around.
The app and the website (http://wheatsheafhotel.com.au) are beautifully integrated, looking like an extension of each other. All branding around the Wheatsheaf Hotel looks like chalkboards: posters, signage and price lists for example. This branding has been incorporated into the app, website, and email campaigns to create a consistent feel throughout everything Wheaty.
The success of the Wheaty app has been profound, with punters sitting at the bar within minutes of having received a push notification.
With the success of the iPhone app, an Android version is now in development. Apparently a lot of beer nerds are nerds in general.
Project Innovation / Need
The Wheaty app solves a real world problem. It effectively uses push notifications to engage a local real world audience:the Wheaty's loyal patrons. Customers are notified about the daily changing of tap beer and this is increasing sales but more importantly enriching and strengthening their community.
An iPhone app was developed to allow for this constant flow of information. The app also holds information such as wine, whisk(e)y, gigs, art and Hoopla (a blog).
There is no double handling of information for Wheatsheaf staff. When content is created on the website it is automatically pulled into the app.
Previously staff relied on print advertising and email marketing to publicise events such as gigs and art exhibitions. The Wheatsheaf needed a quicker and easier way way to publicise these events day to day. During the re-development of their website several blog and news feeds were added. These feeds are pulled into the app to allow patrons to catch up on Wheaty news on the go.
A key requirement for the app was for it to convey some of the uniqueness and character of the Wheaty. The app has a disregard for digital-looking design and has a straight-down-the-line, no bullshit approach. The Wheaty app departs from iOS conventions usually associated with iPhone app design. A full custom designed interface has been implemented to create a family of Wheatsheaf marketing across the app, website, and email newsletters.
User Experience
The target audience for the Wheaty app includes:
* Beer connoisseurs wanting to know what is currently available in The Wheaty’s regularly changing range of beers on tap
* Fans of local live music and art
* Newcomers and people unfamiliar with The Wheaty and unsure why this pub might be for them
* Adelaide residents wanting to know about upcoming events and after parties
A completely custom designed interface was created to ensure that the app is truly unique, and doesn't appear in any way to be a generic skin applied to an iPhone app. This was important because there is nothing generic about the Wheaty. We wanted the user to feel like the app was an extension of the hotel.
The quirky nature of the design engages with the audience in the friendly and informal way that they've come to expect from their interactions with the Wheaty.
Users are able to subscribe to the notifications that interest them. If a user is interested in craft beers then they can subscribe to that notification stream only, and ignore the rest.
Project Marketing
A series of print campaigns were developed to market the app, including posters placed within the hotel and a direct mailout of postcards advertising the app.
The postcards were a joint venture between the Wheatsheaf and Freerange Future, and were sent to various organisations related to the Wheatsheaf and Freerange Future, and to some very special individuals. The postcard granted the bearer one free drink at the Wheaty.
Other marketing included a badge added to the Wheaty website, email marketing to the Wheaty's email subscribers, blog posts, and a lavish launch party held on the Wheaty's birthday.
To date the Wheaty app has been downloaded more than 600 times since it's launch on May 24th.
Food & Drink
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