Oblique angle
Pubs, bars and clubs represent a vital area for drinks brands and have always been a focus for supplier-led marketing activity, but today not all of them are enthused by what suppliers are offering.
A growing section of the trade has little use for traditional point-of-sale (POS) material and promotion. All the more frustrating for the supplier is the fact that these outlets are often opinion-leading or fashionable.
Excuses range from "it clutters up the bar area" through "it conflicts with the decor" to "these promotions will not interest our customers". Above all, these outlets are not interested because they have their own agenda, their own marketing and their own image to project.
The bar chain All Bar One is a case in point. "We are very cautious about using ordinary POS," says All Bar One's Jeremy Spencer. "Anything that you do has to be in keeping with the quality of the operation you are running."
Moreover, the promotions that these POS materials accompany are seen as "inappropriate" for the clientele. "ABC1 business and professional people see through the ordinary promotions and are not impressed by them."
Suppliers are increasingly realising that, in order to address this type of outlet, they have to step outside conventional methods. "When you go into these places, it is apparent that they have their own style, and the manager often won't let you have standard POS there," says Nick Blazquez, on-trade director for United Distillers (UD). "We have to deliver something that is consistent with the image and environment they are trying to create."
Innovation
In deciding what to deliver, suppliers appear to have several choices, but these all need to offer flexibility and innovation. As Ian Harris, marketing director for drinks producer Seagram UK, puts it: "Traditional POS materials do still have a place in the UK trade, but for the more contemporary outlets that don't allow any POS materials we have to tailor our activities."
The option that often appeals to a bar proprietor to give room to POS material is extremely subtle marketing, without too much "in-your-face" branded activity. While this may go against the grain for an enthusiastic brand champion, programmes based on staff training and incentive packages have achieved excellent results for both retailer and supplier.
For instance, UD has run a successful trade education programme for Gordon's based around serving the perfect gin and tonic. Accompanied by a TV advertising campaign that plays on the same values, the programme has meant Gordon's is now up by 3% year-on-year in the on trade.
Meanwhile, Allied Domecq's "gin as it should be" programme aims to convey the differences between gins in a bid to highlight the strengths of its Beefeater brand. "The programme leaves our on-trade customers with the feeling that they have learned something useful they can pass on to customers," says on-trade business development director Peter Ayling.
"It's vitally important for us and for our trade partners that every opportunity to inform and educate is taken. The better informed everyone is - from bar-tenders and waiting staff up to proprietors - the better we can get our brand messages across to consumers."
Consumer education can go hand in hand with staff induction. UD runs tastings for its malt Scotch whisky brands which, says Blazquez, have proved popular with outlets that are otherwise not very interested in branded promotions.
Seagram has also run tastings for its malts, drawing on the talents of knowledgeable brand ambassadors such as master blenders, while Campbell Distillers has been doing similar work with its Irish whiskey brand, Jameson.
Suppliers also see potential to further their brands by offering advice on range selection and merchandising. As the on trade is often seen as behind the retail sector in terms of merchandising, suppliers can, to a degree, use their experience in dealing with retailers to impress on-trade customers with merchandising know-how.
Optic advantage
"A number of techniques increase sales volumes and boost profitability," says Peter Ayling, "yet involve very simple changes to merchandising or bar layout." For instance, Allied Domecq advises its on-trade customers to create a "hot spot" behind the bar by increasing the number of optic facings for any one brand.
Alternatively, the supplier will try to demonstrate to customers the advantages of moving certain brands up on to optic. Moving Tia Maria up to optic has been particularly successful, says Ayling, as was merchandising Laphroaig malt whisky on optic as an additional malt brand.
However, given the trend in some bars to move away from optics in favour of free-pour, this may not be appropriate everywhere. Furthermore, if too many brands are moved up to the optic, the bar area becomes too crowded and all the impact is lost.
Indeed, when UD is addressing the more contemporary independent bars, it encourages them to do precisely the opposite and concentrate on a restricted range of the biggest selling brands. This will invariably ensure that its core brands, Gordon's and Bell's, are prominent.
It is in presenting POS-driven promotions and themed evenings that suppliers can encounter the most resistance, even when these activities are held on a quiet night. As a result, suppliers are increasingly opting to move away from the conventional approach altogether and offer something so different - perhaps on a one-off basis - that even the most stand-offish bar will bend its rules.
For such specialised marketing activity, suppliers can always opt to hire a marketing consultancy specialising in this area such as James Morgan & Associates, which works in major cities - including London, Paris and Berlin - developing tailored on-trade marketing programmes on behalf of brands such as Hoegaarden beer, Evian, Lichfield Gin and Maker's Mark Bourbon.
"It is bespoke sales promotion," says the company's James Morgan, "individual things rather than a cap and T-shirt. What we are trying to do is run promotions with the bars that will generate press for them." So in addition to offering a unique promotional theme for the brand, the bar is also receiving free publicity that will build up business.
Seagram used the same motivation in a more mainstream on-trade programme for its Morgan Spiced flavoured rum brand. The company offers the bar a themed evening including free trial and branded giveaways; meanwhile advertises on local radio, giving the name of the participating bar. The programme has proved popular, says Seagram, leading to a 58% increase in sales of Morgan Spiced in the on trade.
A bespoke, tailored approach can also be taken to POS material, posters and interior design. For instance, UD found that certain bars were interested in old photography and archived visual material concerning drinks, and so began to offer customers access to its own considerable archives. Pubs the company has helped to deck out in this way include the O'Conor Don in London and The King's Ransom in Manchester. UD is now interested in offering this service selectively to other pubs and bars.
In making their programmes more flexible, suppliers are waking up to the fact that the trade at the retail end has become much more sophisticated. Bars and pubs are far more aware of what their customers are looking for, and supplier marketing activity has to take account of this.
In 20 years of selling to the on trade, Seagram's Ian Harris says he has seen a dramatic change. "There is now a far more consumer-driven focus than a trade-driven one. Consumer-driven promotions are becoming far more important than what were once called dealer-loaders. Incentivising the bars to take your products is not sufficient nowadays. You have to give them a reason."
