Unless you've been hiding under an oval-shaped rock for the past four weeks, you will know that the Rugby World Cup is in full flight, and that pubs across the UK are capitalising by whipping up the atmosphere and screening live games.
It's not too late to get in on the act. A fashionable Central London bar has proven that with an innovative partnership, it's not just traditional sports pubs that can make a success of live rugby.
Soho Clubs and Bars' Sirocco has joined forces with rugby website Rucku.com to enable it to bring in star players to 'host' matches, and to be promoted by the website. Whatever the nature of your pub or bar, could it benefit from similar schemes - perhaps for the World Cup final, on October 20, or for future sporting events?
High-profile line-up
Sirocco is a 285-capacity premium bar/nightclub with a 3am licence.
Rucku.com is an organisation headed by former England star Will Carling. It is a social networking site aimed at rugby fans, allowing them to discuss the finer points of matches with high-profile former players such as Carling, Zinzan Brooke, David Campese and Ieuan Evans.
Thanks to the partnership, Sirocco is able to call on these stars to come to the bar on match days, to present the coverage and talk to fans. The sponsorship means Sirocco's point-of-sale material, including window vinyls, bar fonts and imitation 'post protectors', can be branded with this recognised rugby name. It all provides an incredible boost to Sirocco, a bar fans might not otherwise associate with rugby.
Simon Rose, events manager at Soho Clubs and Bars, explains how Sirocco developed the relationship with Rucku.com and how it set itself up as a rugby venue: "The idea behind Sirocco was to create a luxury sports bar that would be set apart from the traditional sports bar culture.
"Sirocco's future was not only about bringing in punters but also about retaining a high-profile customer base and attracting big names in the sporting world - personalities and associations alike."
Simon argues that for bars such as Sirocco, sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup are the perfect platform to explore partnership opportunities. Partnerships, he says, offer endless scope for promoting the bar and increasing brand awareness. And, most importantly, they can enable pubs and bars to give the customer what they need.
To make the most of sporting events, it is not enough to simply screen the game - you also need to provide comfort, a buzzing atmosphere and some added extras to make you stand out from the crowd.
"As Sirocco is more of a premium offering rather than a traditional pub or sports club, it demonstrates that any bar could take advantage of sporting events, providing that it has the equipment to screen the games," says Chris Rose, general manager at Sirocco."The stigma attached to so-called sports bars can be overcome by simply offering private booths, quality food and drink, speedy service, advance booking and private event facilities, partnerships and multiple plasma screens.
"With everybody jumping on the bandwagon, hoping to take profits during key sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup, it is vital you do something different to capture the imagination of the public to get them to come back time and time again."
Getting the package right
Soho Clubs and Bars' Simon Rose outlines some important considerations when undertaking a partnership promotion:
• "Forging a mutually beneficial relationship with a brand that has both synergy and similar goals to you can be hugely rewarding in terms of the long-term pay off. Always remember that it's not just about making money today, it's about building long-term links. Ask yourself: do the two brands complement each other? What can I do for them? What can they do for me? Are we on the same team and aiming towards the same goals?"
• "In return, tell the partner that they will get several things out of the arrangement. We told Rucku that it would get venue space - a Central London location, private booths, table service, 3am license, the security of an established venue. It also gets in-house branding, on-screen promotions and banner advertising, presence on the Sirocco website, backing by rigorous in-house PR and marketing campaigns."
• "The benefits for us are the association with a well-known brand, increased exposure, presence on the partner's website and within any marketing material, sponsorship… and, perhaps most importantly, their contacts!"
• Rucku.com's Terry Powell also adds that Sirocco has done well to create a 'differentiated customer experience' - dividing the site into the main bar for general customers and the mezzanine for group or corporate bookings.
And how do they do it in France?
I have just returned from two weeks supporting England on French soil. During the early stages of the tournament, pubs took a range of approaches to hosting live rugby. "I want zis to be ze berst bar in ze ole of France during ze Coupe du Monde," the charming licensee of the William Webb Ellis in Nantes told us. The pub was the place to be when England visited the town to play Samoa on September 22.
A ramshackle railing erected outside was not enough to stop fans spilling out across the entire street. Here the French demonstrated a relaxed attitude to pavement licensing. At one point, a horde of French fans formed a scrummage against an oncoming police car and began to push it back up the narrow cobbled street. The gendarmes seemed to think it was 'tres amusant'.
The pub handed out free wicker hats branded with its name and the World Cup logo as souvenirs. England flags blew in the wind outside. "He changes those, depending on who's in town," one local told us.
The William Webb was doing a roaring trade in cigars as fans toasted teams' victories indoors in a way most of them would not be able to do at home. The ban will hit French pubs next year. While we found many were opting to ban smoking early, there were others where Gitanes were allowed to form a thick smog below low ceilings. (Rendez-vous des Amis, in Montmartre, Paris, I'm thinking of you here.)
Within a two-minute walk was the John McByrne. The Irish bar had hung a modest LCD screen on its balcony, a move which had attracted a throng of fans from seemingly scores of nations. The square that the screen faced was completely packed as a barman poked his head out of the second-floor window and conducted a rousing version of the Marseillaise at kick off time.
Brits who wanted to feel slightly more at home could have headed to the Bombardier, Charles Wells' pub in Paris. There we found big screens, real ale and the pub draped in flags for a fanbase peppered with Frenchies as well as expats and visiting fans.