Kicking goals for Brothers Group

The onset of COVID in 2020 set Brothers Cairns Group on a review of their entire business operations. Two years on, their marketing has been completely transformed.

Group General Manager Shane Fitzgerald said the pandemic provided the opportunity to take a fresh approach to marketing.

“Previously we had two full-time staff in the marketing department, and they had a strong focus on external advertising,” Shane said.

“We realised we had to take a more direct approach post COVID, so when the opportunity came to work with Maer Group in July 2020, we jumped onboard.”

Maer Group’s Managing Director started working with Shane and the team to implement new direct marketing strategies and better utilise their Odyssey and Talkbox integrated systems.

“We moved to Odyssey in February 2020 and had a few weeks using the system before the shutdown hit,” Shane said.

“So these platforms were very new to our team and Maer Group were able to help us better utilise the systems, generating measurable returns within their first month working with us.”

With strategies in place to leverage the strong trading period, the focus then turned to the completion of a marketing audit for Brother’s Cairns Group’s two clubs: Brothers Leagues Club and Fuller Sports Club.

The audit provided a comprehensive review of their membership profile and loyalty program, along with a detailed analysis of the club’s advertising, entertainment, marketing and promotions (AEMP) activities.

With a total of 84 recommendations, an action plan was created to complete these over an 18-month period.

“Around this same time, we had our marketing manager finish up her contract, so we had to weigh up the uncertainty of the pandemic, with the challenges of building a marketing team from scratch.

“We were very happy with what Maer Group had achieved in the time we’d worked together, so we approached them to provide a full-service option for our marketing.

“It was a great solution for us, we could access their services and experience across the whole marketing function – from promotions and direct marketing to digital advertising and graphic design.

“With all the uncertainty, it was a one less thing for us to worry about.”

Shane said the support from Maer Group has been excellent.

“They assisted with professionally managing our media and member communications after we received a positive Covid case in August 2021.

“Then again recently, they managed the communications for the closure of our buffet, helping design and implement new menus in under 24 hours.“

Maer Group’s Managing Director Matt Rafton said the relationship with Brothers Group has been very strong.

“We’ve been proud to work with Brothers Group and it has been great to deploy our full range of services over the past 18-months.

“We’ve rebuilt their websites, overhauled their promotions, developed a new loyalty program and implemented direct marketing strategies that are generating a six-figure return each month.

“We’ve also shifted their advertising focus to digital, with strategic campaigns across Meta (Facebook) and Google networks for both clubs.”

But the journey isn’t over yet.

Brothers is currently undertaking a $7 million renovation that will transform two levels of the club.

Refurbishment of its function facilities on the second floor of the venue are now complete with the new Dreams function room opening in February.

While the upstairs provides a boost for functions, it’s downstairs where the club is spending serious money on a major transformation of its food and beverage offerings, with builders Rubicon Constructions on site working in stages since November last year.

As at the start of March, the renovated bistro had been handed back to the club and construction was well underway on the new Sports Bar which will include high-definition projection screens, with TAB, Keno and bar facilities and a separate entrance for members from Anderson St.

The next stages of the project include the gaming room and café. The gaming lounge will be expanded to allow for improved spacing between machines following the club’s success in reducing machine numbers and improving spacing after the COVID shutdowns in 2020.

The centrepiece of the renovations will be the new café Fratelli’s (Brothers in Italian) which will sit behind floor to ceiling windows on the corner of the building. The new outlet will offer all day Mediterranean inspired grazing options along with pizzas, coffees, snacks and treats.

The gaming room is expected to open late May and the café in July.

“We are very excited to see these renovations complete in the coming months and look forward to kicking more goals for Brothers Group into the future,” said Mr Rafton.