Thesis

Situation Analysis
Hennessey’s Tavern Inc. currently has nine Irish-themed taverns located throughout
Southern California and one located in Las Vegas, Nevada. While each location falls
under the same Hennessey’s Tavern brand, they are independently managed and
operated.
The Hennessey’s Tavern brand is very well known throughout California because of the
company’s rich history and strong community ties. For 41 years, Paul Hennessey has
built a business on the idea of a neighborhood hangout place and “Irish hospitality.”
Hennessey has honed in on a unique niche in Southern California and has been able to
run his company with a small business feel. He has also managed to expand and open
new locations and different restaurant concepts every few years.
Service quality at each location is relatively strong and most of the Hennessey’s Tavern
locations have positive feedback on Yelp. Today, Hennessey’s Tavern Inc.’s lacks a strong
online brand and social media presence.
Looking toward the future of his business, Paul Hennessey sees the business expanding
significantly over the next 10 years and doubling the number of current establishments.
Hennessey believes his new concept restaurant, Rebel Republic, will expand more than
the Hennessey’s Taverns, but he continues to look for cities that poses the right feel for
a neighborhood bar.
In order to expand the customer base, build stronger service relationships with
consumers and unify the overall Hennessey’s brand, it is imperative that the business’
online presence is refreshed.
The tavern locations are managed by different general managers that directly oversee
operations, as well as coordinate each location’s social media accounts. This
decentralized management approach is beneficial for day-to-day service at each
location, but has created a lot of confusion about the overall Hennessey’s Tavern brand.
In order to refresh these channels, a detailed online marketing and communication plan
needs to be implemented. Many of the tavern locations already have a significant
following on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but they lack
consistency, and the content is repetitive or limiting to building new relationships. The
current Hennessey’s Tavern Inc. needs a more modern design, updated content and
easier navigation.
The thesis researcher’s goal for this campaign is to create a plan of best practices for
social media and online branding, build a more user friendly and modern website and
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