PMA backs national consumer campaign to help celebrate Britain's pubs

29-May-2013 - Last updated on 30-May-2013 at 07:53 GMT

PMA backs It's Better Down the Local

The Publican’s Morning Advertiser is supporting a new national consumer campaign to celebrate Britain’s passion for pubs.

The It’s Better Down The Pub campaign is expected to run for 12 months and will encourage pub-goers to share their experiences and highlight why they love the pub. The campaign has the support of a range of organisations and companies in the sector — and support is continuing to grow.

Funding has been provided by a range of operators and a six-figure sum has been raised. A video has also been launched that shows hosts, staff and customers saying what they love about the pub. As well as being used online, this will feature on Gamestec games machines in pubs. A consumer launch will kick off in six pubs across the country on 10 June.

PMA editor Rob Willock said: “This is an engaging consumer-focused campaign that reminds people that a good night out is always better than a good night in. Sometimes, people just need reminding of that fact, and a little nudge in the right direction to the door of their local. I would urge all our readers to get involved.”

CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) chief executive Mike Benner said: “One of the main principles [of the beer duty escalator campaign] was that we worked in partnership with a number of organisations and companies.

“What is special about this is that we are not asking Government for anything, we are not asking the industry for anything, but we are just saying this is a fantastic industry and everyone needs to be investing in it and getting behind it.”

Neil Morgan, director and head of pubs at Christie+Co, said: “It really saddens me that 40% of pubs that we sell get de-licensed and are sold for alternative use. “It’s not a great statistic. We think this campaign is superb and is a great drive to get people back into the pub.”

While Mike Clist, operations director (tenanted) at Fuller’s, said: “I think this campaign is a great move forward. The idea of the whole campaign is to get our customers involved in the industry.”

CGA Strategy will conduct research over the next 12 months to measure the impact the campaign has on consumer behaviour.

For further information, visit www.facebook.com/ItsBetterDownThePub and www.itsbetterdownthepub.com