Shepherd Neame: we'll pay your rent for a year

One lucky pub will have its rent paid for a year courtesy of Spitfire Ale.

The Spitfire Premium Kentish Ale on-cask promotion, which is the first stage of Operation Landlord, gives a UK pub the chance to have its rent paid for a year up to the value of £30,000.

Operation Landlord is a trade marketing campaign aimed at "giving landlords the ammunition to drive sales", according to the brewer. The campaign starts with a PoS and text-to-win promotion, open to all Spitfire Ale customers in May.

Entrants will need to text a unique code on their cask and also their pub's postcode. Twenty lucky cask codes will be in line for the main prize. The owners of these casks will be invited to the brewery in June for a live final draw, with the winner selected at random. A further 19 prizes of £250 go to runners-up, plus hundreds of Spitfire polo shirts.

"Operation Landlord will help us build long-term relationships with licensees," said marketing manager Mark Miller.

"We know pubs want to stock vibrant, active brands that engage with consumers and increase rate of sale.

"This campaign — including our new website and a social media strategy — is the first stage in a developing campaign to help licensees. We have devised this promotion to directly benefit our trade customers."

New PoS material will include "cling" posters, which stick to almost any surface through static energy. T-shirts and branded glassware will also form part of the PoS kit.

Further activity planned for 2010 includes the launch of a new consumer website and an advertising campaign.

• To enter visit www.operationlandlord.co.uk​.