Mobile phone proliferation and the accidental discovery of the power of texting - technically known as the short message service or SMS - has opened up a whole new marketing channel for the pub and bar industry.
In the past few years operators and drinks suppliers have experimented in a range of ways, pulling in punters literally from off the street with text messages promising special promotions and events.
For West Country freehouse owner Andy Merricks, though, the technology wasn't quite fulfilling its potential. So he came out of his pub to set up Select SMS.
The untapped opportunity, as he saw it, was for an sms marketing service that could target certain groups of customers, rather than just sending out a "blanket text" that not only wastes money but can annoy people who would never be interested in the promotion or event you're telling them about.
"I wanted a system that could help pubs manage the type of customer they get - not just by age and gender but the kind of drinks they like, the music they like, even the football team they support," explains Andy.
So how does it work? To begin with, of course, you have to build a database of mobile phone numbers. Andy supplies pubs with posters, tent cards and beer mats encouraging customers to register with the service, which can either be done online or by collecting a form from across the bar.
As well as finding out the basic facts the form has questions tailored to each pub's marketing strategy. So if you want to sort the easy listeners from the hip-hop posse, or separate football fans from snooker supporters, you can do it.
A clever piece of software then enables the licensee to direct text messages to only those people who are most likely to respond. A voucher code for a free drink or discount can be added.
Pubs pay £150 a year for select SMS Select to manage the database and system, plus 10p for each text message.
Surprisingly, perhaps, its first client is wholesaler Waverley TBS which, from this month, is using sms to target its publican customers with special offers.
For Andy, that's ample demonstration of the power and flexibility of his system. "Every day I think of a different application for it!" he says.
For more information go to www.selectsms.com