Regular customer Graham Rogerson had only one grumble about his local; the Dog and Partridge in Manchester. It hadn’t had a jukebox for years.

“A jukebox would be great in here,” he told the landlord Ray Robbins. But Ray was unconvinced. “Nobody else is bothered about having a jukebox,” he told Graham. But Graham kept on asking.

In the end, Ray decided to issue his customer with a challenge. “Prove to me that other people want this jukebox as much as you do,” he said to Graham. “Get 100 likes on Facebook and I will get you a jukebox within a week.”

Graham took Ray at his word and posted an image of himself holding a notice saying, “Ray says if I get 100 likes, he will get the jukebox back”. Within hours, Graham was receiving a number of likes from the other locals. They then shared Graham’s picture with their friends and after a couple of days, Graham had received over 200 likes!

Landlord Ray couldn’t go back on his word, so he went online and started to do some research for jukebox suppliers. He came across the Hire Jukebox website and was amazed to find he could get the very latest digital jukebox installed at no cost. He discovered that installation was free and there was no binding contract. The jukebox was installed on a profit share revenue deal, which meant that Ray could provide his customers with their longed-for jukebox at no risk or cost at all.

So, being a man of his word, Ray had the online digital jukebox installed within a week. It is connected to the pub’s broadband, so they receive new music updates every week including the very latest chart releases and new album titles.

Hire Jukebox loved the story of how “people power” or should we say “Facebook force” got Graham his longed-for jukebox. So we asked him for a list of his favourite music to put onto the new jukebox before it was installed. That list can be found in the “Venue Favourites” section. We also uploaded the now infamous Facebook photo onto the jukebox touchscreen display.

Ray has had no regrets about his Facebook challenge – the jukebox has proved to be a massive success for the Dog and Partridge. Not only is it profitable but he no longer has to keep on buying CDs to play, which saves money and cuts down on clutter. But the best thing of all is that the jukebox has attracted new people as well as old regulars back to the pub and everyone is staying for longer.

Many pubs have a Facebook or Twitter page these days but how many of them have a proper two-way conversation with their customers about what they want? Social media can be a great way to canvas support, or a means to inform and entertain your customers. Just be careful of issuing too many challenges, as “people power” can be a force to be reckoned with!