Football Preview: Brands are football supporters
Big-name brands are once more piling behind football, in the hope that they can associate their drinks with one of the biggest pub draws there is.
Installing Sky may be pricey, but brands still clearly believe in football's ability to sell alcohol. Budweiser is the official beer of the Premier League, and don't overlook the popularity of lower-league football. This year, Coca-Cola is again sponsoring the Championship, as well as Leagues One and Two - that's the second, third and fourth divisions in old money - and St Helier cider has signed a deal to support ITV's coverage of Championship football. None of the brands is short of tips and back-up for licensees, so make sure you make the most of it.
Q&A: Vicki Kipling, UK marketing director, Budweiser
What are the key things to bear in mind when promoting football?
Let passers-by know that you will be showing the football to make sure that you get the highest traffic possible on the match day.
Promote the popular matches for your customers a week in advance in high-traffic areas, such as toilets, smoking areas and behind the bar.
Using the same sites for fixtures makes it a reference point for customers every time they are in your bar.
What sort of promotions can licensees run?
Bucket deals at a round price point are a simple yet very effective way of increasing speed of serve and increasing volume sales.
Offer food deals and make sure it is food that can be eaten standing up while watching the game - for example, pies and hot-dogs.
What promotional support do you offer licensees?
As a Premier League sponsor, we are the only beer brand able to offer branded point-of-sale (PoS) material carrying its official marks. This season we will be offering retailers:
• Posters for fixtures/food offers
• Ice buckets and Bucket of Bud posters - to make serving easier and boost customer satisfaction during the matches.
Examples of activity we are running include jointly branded football communication in bars with Walkabout and Greene King. With high street pubs (including Yates's), we are launching the VIP Box concept, which allows consumers to reserve spots with good views of the screen and benefit from a promotional bucket of Bud and meal deal, all delivered to their table.
WKD offers hat-trick of promotional tactics
WKD is aiming to play a part in the important pre-season period when pubs make preparations for the big kick off. The RTD brand, which has forged a strong relationship with the beautiful game, is encouraging licensees to sign up for one or more of three football-related tactics.
Firstly, it is offering:
• A replay of last season's 'Kits for Cases' deal which offers all pubs free footy-themed PoS kits
• A squad of free, downloadable activities and items for pub football teams
• A chance to secure pub and football-related rewards through online orders.
'Kits for Cases' is a simple but effective way to participate in WKD's football activity. Licensees buying any five cases of 275ml WKD in one go from selected stockists during August will automatically secure a free 'Pub Footie Visibility Kit'.
Secondly, to encourage licensees to maximise links with their pub footy teams, WKD is providing a series of free, football-related downloads to bring some of the brand's distinctive sense of humour to pubs.
The printable downloads will range from interactive games with prizes, such as spot-the-ball, to unofficial match reports. Pubs can obtain these downloads over 12 weeks by simply registering at www.wkdpubfootie.co.uk
The third tactic is the 'WKD Accumulator', available exclusively to customers who order through e-commerce website Barbox.
The Accumulator involves a range of free rewards which increase in value according to the quantities of WKD purchased over the 12 weeks of activity.
Five cases of WKD, for example, earns a Pub Footie Visibility Kit which includes football-themed PoS material. Through gradual increments, licensees can save for, among other things, a 42-inch LCD TV.
"Football is about three things: enjoyment, teamwork and winning," says Karen Salters, Beverage Brands' marketing director. "Our latest programme of football-related activity certainly covers all three. It could easily be a manager's most productive signing of the season."
Pub case studies
Never mind the brands' schemes; many licensees are making a success of the football through their own initiatives.
Marston's licensee Paul Marshall runs the Reds Bar in Doncaster - and has found success through being designated as the official bar of Doncaster Rovers.
He explains: "We opened the bar three months ago and it's been a huge success. We've had fantastic backing from the club, local media and the fans. We screen every home match on DVD and feed match commentary into the bar - so every fan can feel part of the atmosphere."
He adds that the bar is also attracting interest from other local sports clubs such as rugby league and hockey teams because of its associations with football.
Another Marston's licensee, Phil Needham at the Ladybrook Sports Bar in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has designed his pub around his love for football.
Phil says: "The Ladybrook is a shrine to all things football - with around £500,000-worth of memorabilia on show in the bar, which I've collected over the years."
Local football legend Kenny Burns - formerly of Nottingham Forest - opened the bar in December last year. "We've been going strong ever since," says Phil. "We also have regular visits from the great and good of football, past and present."
George Kirkham, licensee of Punch pub the Cat and Fiddle in Birmingham, is to kick the season off with a 'beat the barmaid' competition, involving a member of barstaff stopping the shots in inflatable goalposts, using soft footballs. He will also run a fantasy football contest and put on coaches to Premiership games.
Punch lease the Globe Inn in Chichester, West Sussex, meanwhile has installed a 103-inch TV screen for showing the matches. Licensee John Chittock is making the bold claim that it is the biggest pub screen in the country.
Declan Corcoran, licensee of Greene King's the Lord Wolseley, in Islington, London, adopted Holland as the pub's country to support in the home nations-free Euro 2008 tournament.
The local team is Arsenal and Declan chose Holland because of Dutch players having associations with the club. For the domestic season, they are reverting to backing Arsenal.
The licensee explains: "We supported Holland through the Euros because of the Robin van Persie connection and earlier with Dennis Bergkamp. This season we'll be sponsoring darts and netball teams as well as decorating the place in Arsenal colours and memorabilia."
These pubs all look like scoring through the beautiful game. Will you?
Additional reporting by Richard Parsons
