It's the new going out…

Afew months ago some of the good folk from Diageo popped into Publican Towers to show us the company's latest innovation for Guinness. Expecting a funky new font or super-extra-mega-hyper cold serve, it was quite a surprise to see something designed to sell more of the brand in supermarkets.

Guinness Surger is a piece of kit that enables you to recreate the serve of the beer in the home, through an electronic plate which sends an electromagnetic surge up through the liquid creating the unique Guinness serve that you could previously only see in the pub.

This could only mean one thing: that this most on-trade focused of drinks brands was putting its mind to chasing the off-trade dollar. And why? Because it is where the money and the volume is.

This episode was brought to mind when reading a new report exclusively revealed to The Publican by market researchers TNS Alcovision. It confirms there is a seismic shift taking place in British drinking culture, that people would far rather drink at home than drink in the pub.

A good night in

When questioned by TNS on "staying in" nearly four in 10 people said they preferred a good night in to a night down the pub.

Why?​

• Quieter and more relaxed atmosphere - 37 per cent
• To have good night in with friends - 42 per cent
• Getting home from a night out is a problem - 34 per cent

While some may look at this and dismiss any concerns because the numbers are not worryingly high, they should note that on average 35 per cent of respondents decided to sit on the fence on all of these questions. In other words they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statements. These are people who, if pubs do not get their act together, could be lost to the on-trade.

Only 27 per cent of those asked said they would much rather go out than stay in and drink.

So under 30 per cent of people would much rather go out on an evening. A picture is emerging of a nation becoming disenfranchised from its pubs and bars. This is put into even more focus when you consider the 27 per cent figure calculated by TNS is five per cent lower than it was six months previously.

It is quite obvious from these figures that this isn't simply a matter of those people who choose to drink at home drinking more because of low prices in the supermarket. Here we have real proof of pub customers being dragged away from the bar and onto the sofa. The only crumb of comfort for the on-trade is that, according to the statistics at least, this process is taking place slowly.

Why are more people drinking at home?

Age​"I don't feel there are many pubs and bars catering to my age group" ​Testimonial from survey

Kevan Mulcahey, head of Alcovision at TNS, says age is undoubtedly an issue - he believes as people get older their priorities change. "People over the age of 25 are drinking more at home because home is more important to them. There are better home entertainment systems, home cinema systems - all of which are encouraging people to stay in."

Kevan says the major concern to come out of the report is the real sense of negativity that comes across from the over-35s. It appears the on-trade has forgotten them in their desire to chase the younger drinker. "Over-35s are still interested in going out - although not as often as they used to," he says. "But they feel there is nowhere for them to go as pubs, particularly on the high street, are too focused on the 18 to 24-year-old age group."

Fear of the "24-hour binge-drinking culture"​Nearly seven in 10 people are put off town centres by drunk and disorderly behaviour.​

There is undoubtedly a fear from certain people of drunk and disorderly behaviour in town centres. And Philip Lay, retail director at Welsh brewer and pub company SA Brain, says the negative press attention of the last year has done pubs no good at all.

"The "no safe place" attitude coming from that direction in the last two years has been very bad," he believes. "So we simply have to work very hard to get people back. This has happened with the smoking debate as well. The smoking lobby has been portraying pubs as dens of iniquity. We have got to get positive PR on pubs into the national media."

There's no place like home​Six in 10 want to drink close to home​

Philip Lay says the problem is more fundamental than this. "In the home environment you can replace the pub experience - this is especially so in the summer, where you can have a pint of Magners with ice, with a nice BBQ. You used to have to go to the pub to get a decent drink. Now things are so freely available everywhere and the quality has really improved," he points out.

Failure of on-trade to react to the above​Over half prefer to spend their money on leisure activities other than visiting pubs​

"We have not been fast enough in the on-trade in shouting about the good things in pubs," says Philip Lay. "Especially shouting about things like the fact that it is only in the pub you can get a proper pint of beer served at the right temperature."

Paul Howarth, retail director at Blackburn brewer and pub company Daniel Thwaites, believes pubs and bars need to react fast to this problem - especially with impending legislation on smoking. "Unless the on-trade is really on the button things will continue to get worse," he says. "And the smoking ban won't help. It is entirely possible that a number of pubs, those that are trading marginally right now, will be lost to the industry in a year's time."

Price​It's an argument that has raged for some years now and it's hard to deny the impact on pubs of cut-price beer deals in supermarkets. Paul Howarth argues the World Cup, so often seen as the saviour of the on-trade, was really a victory for the off-trade.

"There is no way people's heads weren't turned by supermarket prices during the World Cup," he says. "The thought of watching the game on a big screen at home with your friends, and you can buy a bottle of Budweiser for 45p as opposed to £2.50 in a pub - you cannot try telling me that hasn't swayed people to stay at home."

However, TNS didn't place as much emphasis on this argument in its report. "As far as price goes, it's all about value for money," says Kevan. "I can understand the on-trade's concerns over supermarket pricing. But it is not the whole issue because people will spend big money on things on certain occasions, and if they feel it is money well spent. On those occasions price doesn't come into it."

How can the on-trade win them back?

The key issue appears to be customer service. "The service element is just vital," says Philip Lay. "We have to drag people back into the pub by spoiling them."

Kevan argues that licensees and managers have to start acting more like their counterparts in the leisure industry - like retailers. "The problem is the retail environment is constantly changing [but the on-trade doesn't keep up]," he explains. "Someone comes up with an idea in the on-trade and then everyone else just jumps on the bandwagon. Look at the Irish theme pub. It was a great idea but then everyone copied it. You just wouldn't get that in other retail environments. People have to think more like a retailer. Look at how the coffee bars keep changing their offer to suit consumers."

The licensee's view: Frank Cobb, Holmbush Inn, St Austell, Cornwall

"What we have to do is get the people who have been staying away and get them back into the pub. The whole package has to improve because the culture in pubs has changed so much. Now things are a lot better but 15 years ago the pub was alive with younger people.

"This pub in particular was a starting point for people on their way out to the local nightclub. Since the club closed down this pub has suffered.

"So we have