Mark Daniels: With friends like these...

This weekend's Telegraph reported that Diageo, who's brands include such noted names on the bar as Guinness, Smirnoff, Baileys and Captain Morgan, has decided that the off-trade is the place to focus.

And when you look at the alcohol sector most of the growth is indeed coming from the supermarkets, but even Diageo's managing director, Simon Litherland, admits that brand sales through pubs are more profitable than through the off-trade.

At a time when pubs are facing a battering from all quarters, the last thing it needed to hear was that one of its primary suppliers is telling the general public to head to the supermarket and buy a can of Guinness. It reminds me of that old proverb: 'with friends like these...'

It shouldn't really come as a surprise though: the pub trade is in a state of disarray, cash-strapped customers are staying away, dissent is rife amongst the ranks of tenants, political factions are developing between pub companies and trade unions, government legislation is making pub drinking as socially acceptable as eating a Kit Kat whilst stationary at a set of traffic lights, and the media are happily spilling forth negative stories left right and centre about pub closures and women in short skirts vomiting on Saturday nights.

But whether this is simply a case of a major supplier going where the money is or just another shameless headline attack on the pub trade, no amount of spin is going to convince me that a can of Guinness bought from Tesco and drunk at home is going to be more enjoyable than a freshly drawn pint in a pub, no matter how much cheaper it might be.

Wherever the market may lie, there's no denying that big suppliers still like to use pubs as the back drop for selling their products in their television adverts, and pubs are still a great route to market for brands looking to raise awareness amongst the paying public.

If Diageo want to go after the supermarket trade perhaps we should just say let them; I'm sure there are plenty of other big names out there who could capitalise on this marketing opportunity and grow their on-trade share...

Any takers?