Life in the font line

Suppliers spend millions on eye-catching fonts to champion their brands. But as the battle for attention intensifies, licensees are left with a front-of-bar obstacle course.CAMILLA PALMER reports

It may not seem like it to the average drinker propping up the bar in their local, but there's a battle raging in pubs up and down the country. The signs of combat between ale and lager brands are everywhere. There are the massive advertising campaigns designed to encourage consumers to reappraise old brands and try new varieties and on-trade promotions.

The fight continues right up at the point of sale, even when brands have managed to overcome the might of the pub companies, with the fonts set up behind the bar competing to attract a drinker's gaze. As well as offering the latest technology in dispensing, these fonts are the mouthpiece of brands right when it matters most ­ when a consumer is dithering over what to order, under pressure at the crowded bar.

Communicating a brand message at this stage of the marketing process is crucial, according to Sean Fortune, technical director of Alumasc, a font designer and manufacturer. "Brand owners are constantly looking to exploit their product's brand at the point of sale," he explains. "They have to ­ it's a jungle out there, with huge brands vying for a share of consumer thirst".

And the battle of the fonts is not just raging between brands. Licensees are feeling increasingly "trapped" by the growing designs and many would claim that the only jungle is the one they find themselves in, imprisoned behind the growing fonts.

"We have 24 large separate chrome fonts along our bar and it's like being in a prison," says Sandra Barnes, front-of-house manager of the Four Doors Down in Nuneaton. She continues: "They are so high that some of the staff can hardly reach them."

Steven Hawkes, a barman at the New Inn, Derbyshire, has a similar loathing for big fonts, arguing that customer service often suffers as a consequence. "I think large beer fonts get in the way, leaving no room for the bar staff to do their jobs properly. In our pub, the main serving area is very bad because they are right in the way and we have the hand pumps as well. It's almost impossible to get to the consumer," he says.

"I don't feel one on one with the consumer as I always have to look round the fonts to actually see who I'm serving. There's no way of getting eye contact, which is very important for building up a rapport ­ there must be a better way to do it."

But suppliers believe there is no better marketing device at the bar than fonts. Heineken UK sales director Richard Bradbury says communicating with consumers at the point of sale is "vital". "It's fundamental, and we prioritise it."

Charles Wells can even put a figure to illustrate its importance, according to John Ellis, ales brand manager. "For real-ale consumers, 71% of brand decisions are made at the bar, and 66% of lager drinkers also decide which brand to go for at the bar, so the pump clip is a key player in the success of a brand," he says.

A new breed of retailer, often favouring minimalist fittings both in front of and behind the bar, is also dictating branding activity. With distinctive fonts frowned upon in favour of plain T-bar counter-mounts, showing a small brand plaque, or sometimes nothing at all, there's not much chance for brand owners to attract attention in that environment.

Not only do T-bars appear not to be doing enough of a marketing job for suppliers, but staff are just as unhappy about the design as the stand-alone fonts.

Steve Taylor, managing director of training firm Guy Simmonds and owner of various Derbyshire freeholds, including the Melbourne Hotel, the Paddock Hotel and the Hardinge Arms, says: "I prefer the smaller beer fonts. The breweries want the PR but I think they prohibit contact with the customer. But as licensees, we are geared towards customer care and customer service and we don't want anything to get in the way of that.

"One of our pubs has the big T-bars placed directly at eyesight and I find this too intrusive. There's a barrier there and from an operator's point of view we want to maintain the best contact we can between the bartender and the consumer."

One key argument used by suppliers to justify the size and appearance of fonts is based on giving pubs the latest technology to generate the perfect serve. With on-trade beer consumption slowing in favour of a booming off-trade, it's imperative that brand owners develop ways to ensure this is achieved.

Of course, there's no way of checking whether the six-pack from the supermarket is chilled to the right temperature or poured at the right speed and angle. So that's where trained staff come in. They can serve the brand in the pub, using high-tech equipment so that brand owners can achieve consistency and build up loyalty in the on-trade.

Sam Ellis, head of Drink Tank, a specialist unit set up by design agency Poulter Partners, feels strongly that font design and innovation should be just as important as other elements in a brand, such as packaging. "Fonts are an extension of a brand's identity, so when consumers go into a pub, they're looking for visual prompts to steer them in the right direction," she says.

"The brand which can convey itself in the most eye-catching way, which lives up to its off-trade values, will be in a good position.

She also claims that poor branding at the bar equals bad customer service. "Our research shows that people, particularly the core audience of men, feel out of control at the bar if they have to ask what's on offer. It takes time for bar staff to explain too, so that's lost selling time for the retailer."

Bradbury agrees. "If consumers can't tell what draught beers are available, then everyone loses out."

Christine Woods, of the Three Magpies in Wiltshire, agrees, but urges suppliers to think small when it comes to font designs. "The ones in our pub are placed on the bar at a low height and they're all joined up," she says. "They don't pose a problem because they are really small, but if they were any bigger they would be in the way of serving.

"I think beer fonts are important because they show the consumers what's available and also it draws people towards the bar. But if they are too high it becomes too difficult to talk to the customers and puts a barrier between you (and customers).

"If they can just keep them small it would be better because we don't notice them as much and they still highlight the brand because they are illuminated."

But for suppliers, being the biggest and brightest on the bar is imperative. Manufacturers hold that it's through fonts ­ and therefore in the pubs and bars that champion them ­ that brands can evolve.

Just witness the surge in popularity of extra cold lagers and beers ­ Foster's, Carlsberg, John Smith's and Guinness are just some of the brands which have embraced the trend for colder beers.

Foster's claims to have spent £35m on marketing its extra-cold credibility, which includes its sponsorship of F1 racing, but still points to a considerable spend on marketing its brand values behind the bar ­ its condensation font conveys the "cold" brand message by demonstration.

"Foster's is the quintessential Aussie beer, so having an extra-cold variant ­ which taps into consumers perceptions about the existing brand values, and follows the trend of offering perfectly chilled lager ­ makes sense," says Fortune.

Grolsch says it recently revamped its font in order to meet the technical need to dispense beer more quickly and keep it cold. And by doing so, Grolsch hopes to reinforce its brand values of integrity and heritage in consumers' minds. Says brand director Andy Cray: "Our mantra is quality over time when brewing ­ but not serving ­ Grolsch, so we needed to build that into the font."

The result is what Grolsch is calling the "professional" font, which ticks all the technical boxes because it chills the beer, pours it faster and is easy for staff to use. It also s