Biggest ever Foster's promotion supports pool and poker

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N UK) is aiming to bring blokes back to the pub with its biggest ever Foster's promotion.

Game On will see around 10,000 venues provided with free equipment to run events, including pool, poker and table football tournaments.

The move is designed to capitalise on men's love of games and to encourage them to go to the pub more on week nights and to stay there for longer.

Foster's marketing manager Gayle Harrison said: "Game On, the biggest and widest-reaching promotion ever run by Foster's, will help licensees cash in on the popularity of a variety of pub games by appealing to a wide range of customers and encouraging them to visit and revisit the pub on a night they would normally stay at home."

She added: "More significantly, its benefits should last beyond the course of the promotion and encourage new and lapsed drinkers to reappraise the pub as a great place to meet and socialise with their mates."

Game On pool kits will include the equipment licensees need to run weekly competitions including, cues, chalk, and promotional posters.

Similar kits will be provided for poker and table football events. Pubs will also be given a 'push and win' promotional game giving drinkers the chance to win instant prizes such as mini pub games.

The multi-million pound promotion will be backed by TV, radio and online advertising.

Game On follows S&N's Category Vision research project, which last year identified key trends in customer behaviour in pubs, such as 'bloke time'.

Darryl Hinksman, S&N UK head of customer marketing for the on-trade, said: "If men are going to go somewhere on the spur of the moment, it is becauase they can watch football on TV or play pool with their mates."

Marketing initiatives are also planned around other drivers of business indentified by the research - including 'with food occasions', 'female appeal', 'personal reward' and 'care and control', which aims to provide healthy choices for customers.