Following the success of previous campaigns for Greene King, the the UK’s leading managed pub company and brewer came to 4media group to help them promote their pubs and products ahead of the impending heatwave via a news generation campaign. As Britain prepares to bask in the Saharan bubble heatwave this weekend, an eye-watering 31 MILLION pints of beer will be drunk in local pubs and beer gardens.
Greene King has over 1,700 pubs across the country; over 1,000 of which have large beer gardens. So with stats showing that 7.8 million Brits heading to the pub that weekend, our news generation campaign look at the nation’s ideal formula for a sunny day.
As a creative base for the News Generation creative, we conducted PR research of 2,002 UK adults. The research revealed:
- Brits start drinking at 1.30pm in the summer
- Brits spend on average 3.5 hours in the pub
- Brits would ideally like to be surround by 6 friends/family
- 2/5 of Brits would choose a salad to accompany their drink, compared to just 21% opting for Fish and Chips
- Brits Top 10 Ideal Foods on a Perfect Summer’s Day
- BBQ 41%
- Salad 40%
- Ice Cream 35%
- Fruit 28%
- Snacks (Crisps, Chocolate, Nuts etc.) 22%
- Fish and Chips 21%
- Burger and Chips 16%
- A Vegetarian Dish 9%
- Lasagne 8%
- A Vegan Dish 5%
- The ideal temperature for UK adults is 24 degrees Celsius
- 24% admit to not liking the heat
In order to maximise on the stories potential, our news generation team sold the story in to the press ahead of the heatwave in order to piggy back on the coverage of the forthcoming temperatures in the UK. We also wanted to paint a picture of a heatwave idyl that would encourage audiences to flock to the thousands of Greene King establishments to recreate it.
The copy included a quote from Phil Thomas, Chief commercial officer for Greene King commenting on the research and how Greene King were prepared for the weekend ahead: “It’s clear from the research that the warmer weather lifts Brits’ moods, and the beer garden is a top spot for the nation to make the most of the sunshine.
“With such great weather on the horizon, we’re expecting this to be a very busy weekend, especially after the last few weeks of wet weather. So we’ve pulled out all the stops to make sure we’re prepared and ready to give the best beer garden experience during this weekend’s great weather.”
The campaign achieved over 30 items of coverage across online and print publications, with highlights including:
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- The Sun in print
- The Sun online
- The Daily Mirror in print
- The Mirror online
- The Daily Express in print
- The Express online
- The Daily Star in print
- The Daily Star online
- The Mail on Sunday
- Love Sport Radio
- The Scottish Sun online
- Plus a myriad of regional online news sites such as Gloucestershire Live
