Stonegate Group

About Stonegate

Stonegate Group is the UK largest pub company, operating over 4,500 sites across the country, including well-known brands such as Slug & Lettuce, Be At One, and Walkabout. Stonegate Group has a diverse portfolio of pubs and bars, offering a mix of venues across England, Scotland, and Wales. Stonegate Group's vision focuses on delivering a warm welcome to every guest, looking after their teams, and constantly evolving to meet consumer demand.   

Challenge

Every year Stonegate welcomes over 100 million guests who expect an engaging experience every time. To optimise customer engagement and revenues across all its establishments within its hospitality portfolio, as well as drive advertising opportunities for their brands Stonegate Group sought to deliver engaging and impactful content at scale.  

This aspiration led to the deployment and rollout of over 3,500 screens across Stonegate’s managed estate which plays an incremental role in their retail media network called MiXR, allowing customers to discover nearby venues, access exclusive deals, skip queues and redeem points for rewards.  

Overview 

CDW was invited to participate in the RFP process through our partnership with Samsung, acknowledging our established and reliable performance in large-scale store rollouts.  

Samsung viewed CDW as a trusted partner, equipped with the capability, skills, and experience necessary to successfully deliver the Stonegate project at pace.  

CDW worked closely with Samsung to identify the most suitable class of signage from the Samsung portfolio to meet Stonegate's requirements for displaying advertising and promotional content. CDW also demonstrated the management capabilities of the Samsung RMS SaaS platform, which includes features such as network port locking, remote on/off functionality, and live status and alert reporting.  

Given the high-traffic, customer-facing environments where the screens would be installed, it was necessary to provide them with additional protection. CDW introduced a product called uTouch, a robust wrap-around frame that offers significant protection, just one grade below bulletproof. This frame was available in custom colours to match the themes of various venues, from pink for Slug and Lettuce to black and brown for more traditional pubs. CDW ensured that the pre-delivery, bespoke configuration process was completed in advance, allowing for timely shipment to Stonegate’s installation partner, Celestra, and readiness for easy ‘plug and play’ installation across all the venues.

Solutions

The selection of CDW was underpinned by several key factors.  

• CDW's proven track record in large-scale projects, exemplified by the successful rollout of the ‘Store-in-a-Box' initiative for leading global QSRs and retailers, demonstrated our ability to operate efficiently at scale. This experience was crucial in meeting the stringent timelines set by Stonegate.  

• CDW also showcased their extensive capabilities in providing ongoing management services for the installed signage network. The ability to offer comprehensive support was a significant advantage, ensuring the seamless operation of the digital signage system, from monitoring screen status and managing updates to responding to faults and offering instant repairs.   
• CDW's approach to consolidating the entire procurement journey into a single streamlined process further highlighted our value. By managing the entire transactional, implementation, and configuration journey, CDW provided Stonegate with full oversight and control. This approach facilitated the timely delivery and deployment of the necessary technology solutions.  
• CDW's openness to collaboration and willingness to work with Stonegate’s existing supplier contracts demonstrated our flexibility and commitment to the client’s needs. This collaborative approach ensured that Stonegate could leverage current supplier relationships while benefiting from CDW's consolidated services and capabilities.  

Outcomes 

The screens act as a dynamic point of sale, enhancing guest experiences whilst delivering targeted advertisement and commercial content. The results were immediate, Stonegate’s pilot venues saw an average sales increase by 5% and in Euro 2024, their largest sporting tournament today, they were able to deliver 110 million impressions. They were also able to provide an average of 13% sales uplift for their leading beer partner, Asahi, where their advertising was showing on screens versus controlled sites where they weren’t.  

The transformation and the creation of Stonegate’s brand-new media network MiXR attracted major brand investments from Stonegate’s partners like Heineken, Diageo and Coca-Cola as well as consumer brand such as Sky Bet, Unilever and Disney.

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