Six Nations: Market your rugby offer
Kits have always been important to the players themselves - but they are also increasingly playing a role in pubs in marketing the Six Nations and other big events.
Tailored promotional kits, marketing solutions designed specifically for a certain event, are being used more and more. This year Greene King, Brains, Charles Wells and other pubcos have point-of-sale material targeted at the Six Nations and rugby-related goodie bags as prizes for fans watching the matches in their pubs.
Marketing company MDA regularly produces tailored kits, and has worked with Greene King this year on getting the word out about their pubs' Six Nations offer. Its kits will typically include posters, bunting, drip mats, tent cards, and ready-made scratchcards complete with prizes. In this case, key rings, inflatable rugby balls, mini stress balls, T-shirts and rugby anthem CDs will be up for grabs in Greene King pubs.
How to get the best out of your promotional kits
Ian Stead, chief executive of MDA, offers some advice on applying point-of-sale materials to get the most out the Six Nations and maximise your marketing opportunities throughout the year:
"To make the most of this kind of marketing, it makes sense to plan a promotional 'calendar' for the whole year. Then you can choose and order kits on a rolling basis to support it.
"This helps produce a lively atmosphere, with regular change reflecting different themes. It not only keeps the regulars happy but can expand the appeal of an outlet to new customers who might be on the look-out for good places to get together and enjoy events such as Bonfire Night or a major sporting fixture.
"Applying PoS such as this is common sense - be creative, think about timing, about where you display your materials, about how to use them to draw in traffic from outside. Give people enough notice about what's coming up so that they can plan their diaries, but don't allow things to get stale. Make sure there is a regular turnover of eye-catching materials, and certainly don't forget to take down old stuff as soon as an event is over!"
