Tom's Watch Bar (Paid Media)

Founded in 2014, Tom’s Watch Bar is a sports bar concept built around the idea of making live sports feel bigger, more social, and more immersive. The restaurants feature large-scale stadium screens and 360-degree viewing, so guests can follow multiple games from nearly anywhere in the space. Along with the sports-focused atmosphere, Tom’s Watch Bar offers a menu of upgraded bar favorites, chef-driven dishes, and a broad beverage selection.

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Tom’s Watch Bar had a strong concept and locations with major built-in advantages, especially bars positioned near high-traffic sports and entertainment venues like Nationals Park and Coors Field. The opportunity was there, but they needed a smarter paid media strategy to capture people at the right moment, whether they were nearby for a game, searching for a sports bar, planning a private event, or comparing venues for holiday gatherings.

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They came to PBJ for help translating that location-based demand into actual visits, event inquiries, and revenue. The challenge was not just increasing awareness, but reaching the right audiences within the right radius, with the right message, before competitors captured that intent. PBJ helped build a paid media strategy around high-intent local search, IP targeting near major venues, remarketing, and creative that supported both in-person customer growth and private event bookings.

Events Bookings

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We ran IP targeting campaigns since the bars are in their vicinity. Which means, if for example, someone attended a game at DC's National Park, they would see an ad for the local Tom's Watch Bar. This was a crucial part of the strategy.

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On Google Search, we prioritized "near me" keywords such as "bars near nationals park", "sports bars in navy yard" + PMax campaign set to optimize for Local Store Visits (incl restaurants). 5 mile radius around each restaurant location ensured we're not casting too wide of a net. In some cities 10 mile radius was the right approach based on the client's historical data.

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As we were approaching the holiday season, the keyword strategy had to be updated so we can capture those high-value leads before we lose them to competitors. Remarketing on Google and Meta allowed us to use high-res lifestyle imagery to bring back highly-engaged but yet-to-convert prospects back to the website to fill out an inquiry form. 42%* Increase in Patrons.

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In-Peron Customer Growth

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To bring in more customers, we wanted to take advantage of Tom's Watch Bar's physical locations.

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Their bars are strategically next to big event venues - Coors Field in Denver, or the DC's National Park. For Private Events the target audience was corporate/office-goers. Which meant we had to keep our radius targeting tight. It was also important to go after low volume + high intent keywords and not cast a wide net. Additionally, we needed the right creative strategy to bolster the keyword strategy.