Why We Built Pub & Club Co for Local Venues

I didn’t start out in venue marketing.

My background was in music and graphic design. But as I started working more closely with pubs and clubs, something kept bothering me – and once I noticed it, I couldn’t unsee it.

Small venues across Australia were being sold the same marketing solutions as big hospitality chains: generic social media packages, polished campaigns, expensive photoshoots, long contracts, and big upfront fees.

And it wasn’t working.

The Pattern That Kept Repeating

I watched venue managers do everything they were told.

They posted consistently.
They followed content calendars.
They paid thousands of dollars upfront.

But nothing moved the needle. Engagement stayed flat. Events still struggled. Committees started questioning the spend. And when results didn’t come, the explanation was always the same:

“You need to give it more time.”
“You didn’t execute the strategy properly.”
“You need to invest more.”

Meanwhile, these venues were dealing with realities most agencies never see:

Volunteer committees and changing boards
Tight budgets and seasonal trade
Staff already stretched thin
Communities that valued familiarity, not polish

It wasn’t that these venues were failing at marketing. It was that the marketing was never built for them in the first place.

Where the Traditional Model Breaks Down

Most marketing agencies aren’t malicious. They’re just built for a completely different type of client.

Big brands have:

Dedicated marketing staff
Stable budgets
Time to plan months ahead
Teams to manage tools, platforms, and approvals

Local venues don’t.

Trying to force pubs, clubs and RSLs into that model doesn’t elevate them – it drains them.

I saw good venues lose confidence, not because they weren’t doing great things, but because the marketing never reflected the reality of what they were actually offering.

That disconnect is what finally pushed me to act.

Building Something Different on Purpose

When I built Pub & Club Co, I made a conscious decision not to follow the standard agency playbook.

No long-term lock-in contracts.
No massive upfront fees.
No pretending to understand a community from a distance.

Instead, I wanted to build something that worked month to month, respected tight budgets, fit around real venue operations, and reflected venues as they actually are.

We didn’t want to be an external vendor. We wanted to become part of the team.

That’s also why we developed the WARM Method – not as a theory, but as a response to the specific challenges small venues face every day.

If we’re not delivering results, venues can walk away. Simple.

Why Local Venues Deserve a Different Approach

Local venues aren’t trying to scale nationally. They’re trying to serve their community well.

They don’t need to look like Crown Casino. They need to look like themselves.

They need marketing that staff can realistically maintain, committees can feel confident investing in, and communities actually recognise and respond to.

That belief sits underneath everything we do. It’s why Pub & Club Co exists – and it’s why we work the way we do.

How This Fits Into the Bigger Picture

This origin shapes every part of our approach – from how we price, to how we work, to how we measure success.

It leads directly into why authenticity matters more than polish, why the venue itself is the marketing, and why sustainable growth looks different for local venues.

Because local venues don’t need fixing. They just need solutions designed for their reality.