Ei Publican Partnerships is teaming up with a number of the UK’s leading brewers and drinks companies in its major ‘Cheer Up January’ initiative that will see up to 100,000 free drinks given away to customers in January, designed to drive footfall and boost drink sales for publicans.
Following the success of last year’s campaign, a greater range of new drinks products and old favourites will be on offer this year, including draught and bottled beers, Guinness, ciders, Gordon’s gin, non-alcoholic beers and soft drinks. Brewing partners this year include Heineken, Budweiser, Diageo and Molson Coors.
A dedicated Cheer Up January social media campaign, online advertising and POS in participating pubs will raise awareness of the giveaway among consumers.
During the promotion, customers will be able to find the pubs taking part and redeem their free drink via the app feature on the Great British Pubs website. The promotion will be available in over 1,000 Ei Publican Partnerships pubs across the UK from 2–19 January 2020.
Helen Cook, Customer Director at Ei Group, said: “January is a notoriously challenging month for pubs so we wanted to do something that supports our publicans and helps them drive footfall during the post-Christmas lull.
“Our aim with this initiative is to remind consumers that the pub is a great place to socialise no matter what time of year - and can help beat the January blues. We know that people want to cut down after the indulgences of the festive season, so are delighted to have extended the offer this year to include a broader range of drinks making it more accessible to people who might want low or no alcohol options.
“Feedback from our publicans last year was incredibly positive with more than 80% of participants saying they’d like to do it again. We are very much looking forward to supporting them further this coming January.”
Last year, 100,000 consumers visited the Great British Pubs website during the ‘Cheer Up January’ campaign and participating pubs saw a 5.6% uplift in drinks volumes during the month compared to those not involved, demonstrating the positive impact on footfall and sales.
Rob Bass, publican of the King’s Arms in Okehampton, Devon, was among hundreds of Ei Publican Partnerships’ publicans who took part in last year’s campaign and recommends others should get involved. He said: “It helped January trade; it is great timing as post-Christmas many people are feeling melancholy and customers said it was a bonus to have a free pint in January. We used our full allocation of free drinks and most people coming in bought another pint or two.”
Rob adds: “It rewarded our regulars and we had some new customers in too. We were the only pub in town to be doing it, so it also gave us a point of difference. It’s really easy to get involved as everything is done for you.”