The Christmas season is upon us. Andy Varma looks at how you can take advantage of this opportunity

Ever noticed the High Street's subtle marketing efforts? They are now targeting Christmas and getting awareness campaigns on so that potential customers start to think about this great festive season of merry-making - and spending!

Indian restaurants should participate in working on Christmas promotions so that they also benefit commercially. There are loads of commercial opportunities that come with the season!

The Office parties are the ones to look for and target, as they usually coincide with the coming season. It is never too early to start and your whisper campaign should ideally begin a few months earlier anyway.

On your printed bill, add a tag line.
This subtle form of a campaign is ideal, as your loyal customers start to think about using your restaurant as a venue for their office or personal parties. By just adding a line like: ‘Office and Christmas party bookings now open! Call 020.......'

Printed tent cards for the season...
Start designing and printing promotional tent cards so that you put the thought in your customers' minds that they can come and have a great time at your restaurant with friends and family. Design it with an offer of food in mind.

The menu.
Like chicken, turkey goes down a storm! There are two suggestions:

• Go down the traditional route with a twist. This means that one designs a menu based on the great Xmas lunch or family feast. So the meal has a feeling of the traditional Xmas roast, but with an Indian flare. A marinated tandoori turkey breast smoked in the tandoor with fresh coriander and lemon would do nicely. Sitting pretty, this would be accompanied by a ‘masala gravy', and roasted cumin and ginger potatoes, with coriander peas and cauliflower.
• The other route is to innovate and ‘fuse' the two cuisines. This route needs a good strong hand in the kitchen,with innovative ideas. Turkey tikka with a mango coulis and roasted sweet potato is one starter suggestion. The idea is to work with turkey and lamb on roast modes for the mains, where you can slice juicy pieces of the meat and serve it up with an Indian twist! For desserts one can have a slice of traditional Xmas pudding served on a saffron cream sauce with fresh berries and mango. Vegetables accompanying the mains can also be a fused idea. For example Brussels sprouts in a cumin and ginger sautée is simply delicious!

Parties generally start from November and go right through to January. I strongly suggest marketing for Xmas parties, as this is one area where additional revenue could be generated on an ongoing basis.

Make menus from A to E: five menus that you can include in your pack. Price menu A as the most expensive and go down to menu E for canapés and drinks parties. Make a covering letter and a folder and send these around to local businesses and your database. Print an A5 postcard for this promo and blanket distribute them in a 2 mile radius, approx. 5000 postcards.

You will see that these promotional efforts will help you in achieving your Christmas peak period of trading by hitting the numbers that you need!

Tack on the New Year's Eve info to your promo to link the big day with NYE! End your year with a big bang...

Merry Christmas!