Heineken UK is aiming to recruit a raft of new landlords to lease a pub from its Star Pubs & Bars division, showing how anything is possible if they have the right backing in place.
A new campaign, devised by St Luke’s, encourages licensees to make their dream a reality, with support from a team of experts and business benefits. The campaign brings to life Star Pubs & Bars’ positioning, where licensees are encouraged to run their popular pub business in their own way.
A 30-second film “Make Your Mark” is running across social and is based on the premise that “we believe your pub should feel like your pub”.
It features three licensees in a vacant pub, each looking around to see how they can make their mark on the pub, which then transforms into three different concepts scene by scene. These are based on pub and bar themes that already exist in the Star Pubs & Bars’ portfolio.
The first features a pub that aims to please sports-mad customers, with a referee blowing a whistle, decor featuring rugby-themed bunting, flags from around the world and a licensee with a rugby ball.
The second concept is about creating your own pub cinema and hosting movie nights, complete with popcorn and comfy cinema seats, while the third scene focuses on music-themed entertainment and drag shows.
Each pub concept has a name related to its theme, such as The Scrum Half, The Director’s Cut and The End of the Rainbow. The film finishes with the message: “Make your great idea a reality with Star Pubs & Bars. How will you make your mark.”
Heineken UK social and digital marketing manager for Star Pubs & Bars Katie Thompson said: “Our goal with creating a new campaign was to bring excitement and creativity to our recruitment marketing.
“Licensee recruitment campaigns are often factual and with a heavy corporate tone, which doesn’t best reflect our potential licensees, who are often outgoing, hands on, and creative. Our new campaign really allows the viewer to be able to picture their dreams and how they would make their mark on their pub.”
St Luke’s creative partner Julian Vizard added: “In research, we found that Star Pubs & Bars stand out from their competition by encouraging licensees to run their pub their own way. We wanted to bring this to life in a fun and entertaining way showing the three different pub themes inspired by real pubs in the portfolio.”
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