Fever Pitch

Well it's just round the corner: it's the moment we've all been waiting for. That's right in just three short weeks it will be National Bike Week. In just seven days we will celebrate the joys of dual-wheeled transport as if never before...

Ok, ok. It's a bad joke. Of course I'm really referring to the World Cup. Much has been written about the opportunities offered by the World Cup to pubs and licensees. Last week The Publican got together brand owners, marketeers and most importantly licensees, to discuss last minute plans for the biggest event of the year for pubs.

The panel:​Aidan Straw, licensee, The Three Elms, Windsor​Julian Cordy, director, Box Marketing​Pete Johnson, regional communications manager - Licensed, Coca-Cola Enterprises​Simon Rines, director, International Marketing Reports​Richard Marshall-Duffield, manager, the Famous Three Kings, Fulham​

Things to look out for as a licensee​Simon Rines (SR):​ FIFA has trademarked everything it can trademark: from "World Cup 2006", to "World Cup Germany". You simply can't use any of these phrases in promotional material. You also can't make ticket offers if you have bought tickets for the tournament. Generally speaking FIFA isn't going to take action against any of the big brands in this regard. Look at the latest Carlsberg ad - they can't do anything about that and they won't bother. What they will focus on are the things they know they can do something about. There are currently 1600 trademark cases pending in 65 countries.

Pete Johnson (PJ)​: Coca-Cola puts all its promotions through FIFA before we take it to customer. They are very professional to deal with and there are no complaints internally with how FIFA have dealt with us. But what is frustrating is the amount of restraint there is on our marketing, particularly on things that we think licensees would really enjoy. And there are things you can't control, like our personal sponsorship of Wayne Rooney. But ironically all the things that have happened to him have helped increase the profile.

We produced these Rooney face masks and they are proving to be so popular in pubs - despite everything we have done with all our other activity! And I think it works because it provides a little bit of theatre for licensees.

What type of promotions work best?​Julian Cordy (JC):​ Fundamentally you need to have promotions that will drive people into the outlet. It's about how you can use the environment you are in (regarding licensing restrictions, responsible drinking) most effectively. The things that you want to avoid are the things licensees have implemented before and got dramatically wrong, like collector schemes. The most effective ideas are the things that bring a bit of theatre, like table service mechanisms.

Richard Marshall-Duffield (RMD):​ The table service notion is a good one, but not something that would work when the host nation is playing!

JC:​ I think it's about three things. One it's about making people realise the event is happening; two, maximising the opportunity; and three, making sure you keep them as customers after the event. In other words retain them as loyal customers. I think if you can do all those three things right then your investment will be worthwhile.

The more instant reward, theatre-focused promotions work best. I hadn't seen the Rooney face-mask before but I can see that being a lot of fun.

Aidan Straw (AS): ​For the last World Cup Guinness did a series of wigs - like a David Beckham Mohawk one. People loved them - they couldn't get enough of them.

JC:​ There is no doubt people will brand switch for a reward.

AS:​ Greene King has done a stamps promotion before. Basically you can collect stamps for all the non-England games you come to and once you collect five you can get a free t-shirt. People do go for that. For me it's a matter of getting people in for the main games and then hoping they like the pub and want to come back. Try and make sure the toilets are nice, because there are lots of women who really are concerned by things like that. The World Cup is a showcase to get bums on seats, for people who wouldn't normally come down to the pub.

PJ:​ The thing that companies like Coke need to do is drive traffic for the licensee, so the people that agree to take on our promotions get more people through the door. And the theatre is important. Things that help people enjoy the experience will work and will work long-term, so you get them back in.

I think we are beginning to find that instant-win and instant redemption mechanics don't work. You don't want them to spend less you want them to get more value for money for what they do spend.

Not just a commercial opportunity…​RMD:​ The World Cup is not about making the money back that you invest in it. The issue with marketing the World Cup I always say is to give back to your local customers - the people who always come to your pub. And you never know they may keep come back over the next four years. The World Cup should be you thank you to them for the last four years. It's the same with the FA Cup Final at the end of every season.

PJ:​ We will get some good sales out of the World Cup but we are not pretending we will get back what we have spent on it. But that is not the point for us. It's about creating a connection with the brand long-term.

RMD:​ People aren't thinking about the big picture - the friendlies beforehand, or looking at other countries. All they are thinking is what happens if England go out? The quicker England go out, the quicker we can relax. Why aren't we paying attention to the Australia matches? Almost everyone knows someone who is Australian. So if you target that it means, in a way, we have three more group matches to look forward to. Everyone will be interested in the Australia games.

SR:​ For sponsors they never list raising sales at the top end as their main objective. They're trying to get across the image and the excitement of the brand. Carlsberg will do it because they want an uplift in the off-trade, for example.

Three things to recommend to licensees to increase sales​RMD:​ Branded plastic glasses, branded plastic bottles (that are a non-expense for the business) and a branded offer with food. We find it impossible to get good point-of-sale (POS) for a food offer. I've been working really hard recently in trying to get the ultimate hot dog to use for the World Cup. And I think I'm pretty close in terms of price point, supplier and ease of delivery etc. But trying to get hold of POS is a problem.

SR:​ I think food and drink vouchers would be a good innovation to increase the rate of service.

PJ:​ Theatre, extending the service time outside the confines of the game, product quality and quality of service. You spend all this money on World Cup games but you need to make sure you can get it back over the next two years.

AS:​ I have spent just short of £30,000 doing up my pub for the World Cup. You just have to keep working at it - have a marquee in the garden or if you are really ambitious have a terrace in your car park.