Creating the Right Ambiance for Your Bar or Nightclub

Creating the Right Ambiance for Your Bar or Nightclub

May 16, 2022 Off By Paul Petersen

If you run a bar or nightclub. It is important to make it an inviting place to be. Studies like this one show that the ambiance of bars and nightclubs does matter. If people do not like the ambiance the chances of them returning are slim.

Why ambiance matters

How a bar or club looks and feels has a huge impact on our emotions. We are emotional creatures so if we do not feel good somewhere we are highly unlikely to want to go back there. It is as simple as that.

Even in places where there is little to no competition, people will inevitably choose to stay at home or visit friends rather than go to a bar that they do not like. Ok, so that is the why. Now, for the how.

Lighting is your friend

If you have ever been in a bar or nightclub that you enjoy in the evenings, during daylight hours, there is a good chance you will end up thinking you are in the wrong place. Bar owners know that the best approach is to turn the ceiling lights off and use other forms of lighting to create the ambiance they want. It is a cheap way to transform what would otherwise be a boring space.

Staff areas that are not seen by customers need to be well lit so that people can conduct tasks safely and efficiently. But most of the public areas should be lit softly, which then creates the opportunity to light other areas more brightly. Something that turns those areas into focal points. For example, the bar or dance floor. Booths and most other seating areas can continue to be softly lit.

Use digital screens to the max

There is some great-looking digital signage for bars and nightclubs to use and benefit from. They are not expensive to buy or lease and the modern ones consume very little power. So, they do not cost a lot to run. Digital display screens can be used to enhance the atmosphere of your bar or club. You can use them to stream videos and images of all kinds to add to the ambiance. Learn all about how to do it by reading this article.

Plus, of course, you can also use them for more mundane and practical purposes. For example, displaying a digital bar menu or running flash drinks promotions and telling your customers about up-and-coming events.

Digital screens are also a great way to add interest to the walls. You can use them in a similar way you would posters or paintings.

Keep the vibe going in ancillary areas

You need to get the vibe right in all public areas. Make sure that you don´t skimp on the way you decorate the lobby, cloakroom, and restrooms. For safety and security reasons these areas need to be well lit, which means they need to be carefully decorated. Choose a theme that fits in with the rest of your bar or nightclub and resist the temptation to skimp on the way you decorate these areas.

Create an instagrammable restroom

If you get it right, you will find people posting pictures of your restrooms on Instagram, like these. Which is great free publicity for your club or bar. People figure that if the restrooms are that good the rest of the venue must also be something special.

Use your staff to enhance the ambiance

The way your staff dress and behave also plays a big role in creating the right ambiance. If your bar or nightclub has a retro 1920s vibe, not having a staff dress code that fits in with that era would be a disaster. It will jar on your customers, spoil the illusion, and break the atmosphere.

In some cases, it might even be worth having your staff wear a uniform. It could be that they all wear certain items of clothing, e.g., bowties and bowler hats. Or you could provide all of the clothes that your staff wear while working in your café or nightclub. You can read more about how uniforms can be used to enhance the ambiance, by clicking here. That article also provides some links to some examples of how some of the world´s most successful bars and clubs manage their staff dress code.

So, there you have it. Five simple things you can do to create the right ambiance for your bar or nightclub and some tips to help you to implement what you have learned.