🍰 Cake’s Take on Chess in Happy Hour

I was in the local pub last night and as we looked about for somewhere to sit, 3 tables in the main bar were reserved; I expected a birthday bash, I found Chess Club.

It was one of the pub’s busiest nights and right in the middle of the action, 3 tables of people playing chess and it felt wonderfully normal.

It made me think about connection and the spaces that are actually available to find it.

I do a lot of work in market sizing and with pubs in decline the topline data would suggest that the ‘chess’ segment is too niche to truly help their bottom line, but we always need to look deeper than the transaction value:

- Recent data shows that for every £1 a pub invests in community focused activities and adaptations, there is a social value return of over £8 (this covers things like improved wellbeing, increased social action, more resilient communities).

- 20%+ of Gen Z don’t drink alcohol. When a more niche activity like chess feels at home on a busy Thursday night, the pub stops being just a place for drinking and starts being that all important ‘third space’ (a space away from home and work) where connection can be found.

- And it’s what people want too, 67% of Brits see pubs as vital for tackling loneliness and social isolation.

Whether it’s insight in hospitality, retail, FMCG, healthcare or charity, we at Cake are mindful of measuring the connection behind the transaction or interaction. A market in decline could also be changing shape in wonderful ways (with a landscape full of new potential!).

So what does your insight look like at the moment… Are you just measuring the transactions and interactions, or are you also measuring the glue that keeps people coming back?

And could you create more ways for people to connect?

(Sources: Pub is The Hub: Social Value Report, Greene King nationwide survey and BBPA Polling.)