Wednesday July 16: Power of the press

One of the biggest wins for pubs involved Proud of Pubs Week in 2007 wasn't the national publicity. It was the publicity that the event won for them in their local communities.

The power of local PR cannot be underestimated - and Proud of Pubs Week represents a real opportunity to establish a genuine relationship with your local press that you could benefit from for a long time to come.

That's why we are urging you invite a local journalist into your pub on Wednesday July 16, for a drink or a meal, and to discuss how you can work together.

Tell them about the good things that your pub is doing, the challenges that are facing the industry - and make sure that your pub front of mind whenever journalists are looking for a story.

"Public relations is one of the cheapest and most effective ways of spreading the word about your pub," says Anita Woods, managing director of agency William Murray Communications.

"Promotions are short-term fixes. PR - through building relationships with your local press, and community - builds slowly but has real staying power."

One licensee who truly knows the value of working with her local media is Kimberly McGibbon, who runs both the Fox & Grapes and the Bluebell in Hawarden, North Wales.

"When we do events I phone the local newspaper and tell them about what we are doing, and we've built a relationship from that," she says. "They like events and good pictures, and at the end of the day we can supply them. I even write a report for them to make it as easy for them as possible.

"It's a great idea to invite a journalist in during Proud of Pubs Week."

This year Kimberley has gone a stage further by linking up with local radio station Chester Dee 106.3 - which is aiming to bring the licensee from close to the Fox & Grapes to Chester in its 'flying eye' helicopter to mark the beginning of Proud of Pubs Week on Monday July 14!

Aim high, like Kimberley - and make Proud of Pubs Week work for you.

Powerful statistics for the press​

Did you know that:

• Eight out of 10 adults count themselves as pub-goers

• More than 600,000 people rely on beer and pubs for their employment

• Pubs now offer a huge range of goods and community facilities -

serving more than one billion meals a year

Courtesy of the British Beer & Pub Association ​

Think about how these statistics relate to your own business - how many local people use your pub; how many people rely on you for employment; offer a list of all the facilities that you offer every year.