Feature: Pub Media Pulls In The Punters
Pub media may be a relatively niche medium but there’s a lot more to it than branded beer mats and novelty point-of-sale promotions. These days the average pub media contractor has an arsenal of weird and wonderful creative opportunities at its disposal, allowing advertisers to deliver highly targeted campaigns to an affluent youth audience.
Research from Hi-Tech Solutions, one of only a handful of pub media contractors with national coverage, shows that 84% of regular pub-goers are aged between 18 and 34 (see below), with 87% falling into to the desirable ABC1 socio-economic category (see below). The average number of pub visits currently stands at just over three per week (see below) and with traditional media channels fragmenting, pub media provides advertisers with a valuable opportunity to communicate with young, affluent consumers in a brand-centric environment.
According to Rick Weir, marketing director of Hi-Tech Solutions, an increasing number of blue-chip brands, software companies and travel advertisers are using pub media as an add-on to their existing TV, print, radio or outdoor campaigns. Weir argues that pub media opportunities, which include washroom posters, branded glasses and heat sensitive urinal stickers, to name but a few, are a humorous and cost-effective way of driving sales and generating brand awareness. He says: “What we do lends itself to creativity. Advertisers relish the chance to exploit the opportunity to communicate on a direct level with their target market.”
However, pub media is by no means the holy grail of advertising and in terms of revenue the medium, which pulled in less than £10m last year, is relatively small. Louise Goulborn, managing partner of Concord, acknowledges this, but predicts that the medium’s ability to target specific demographics, combined with the development of in-pub digital media networks, will lead to the sector experiencing “significant” growth next year.
She says: “Pub media is not a call to action for many brands, but the sector’s ability to target virtually any demographic means that it will become increasingly successful in attracting a diverse range of brands.”
Hi-Tech Solutions is very positive about future growth. According to Weir, the company has just signed a deal with one of the UK’s largest pub operators and is moving to attract business-to-business brands, financial service advertisers and car manufacturers. Weir also insists that increasing accountability and new creative opportunities will add weight to the medium, saying: “We are working with the advertising industry to improve our services and ensure that pub media becomes a real lifestyle medium.”
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