There’s A Beer For That, the consumer campaign backed by Britain’s Beer Alliance, is planning a full programme of activity, including a range of new initiatives, to change drinkers’ behaviour following confirmation of continued funding for 2017.

The founding global brewers have reaffirmed their commitment to the category initiative which sees over 100 members of Britain’s Beer Alliance collaborating for the benefit of beer and brewing. This funding is boosted for a second year by the BBPA which has increased its contribution in direct response to the positive impact the campaign is making.

David Cunningham, Programme Director of There’s A Beer For That commented “The campaign to reignite Britain’s love of beer by focusing on its quality, diversity and versatility has already delivered high awareness and a positive attitude change. I’m also encouraged by how many trade partners are now involved and benefiting from their active participation.  The unwavering and strong support shown by the four founding brewers – Heineken, Molson Coors, ABInbev and Carlsberg – has been critical to its success and I’m delighted that they continue to recognise the impact of the campaign by funding it again this year.

“The BBPA has also provided great support both financially & through activation by its members. The additional funding they have committed will enable us to continue delivery of a varied programme of events and initiatives. These will make consumers think differently about beer and encourage them to choose a beer to accompany their meal by demonstrating how the wide range of beer styles pair perfectly with their favourite foods.”

Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the BBPA added “The beer and pub industry is at its best when it works together and There’s A Beer For That is a great example of how everyone can benefit from promoting the beer category as a whole.  The BBPA and its members recognise its importance in driving continued volume and value growth and I’d encourage anyone who isn’t already working with There’s A Beer For That to get involved in 2017.”

Having achieved awareness of There’s A Beer For That amongst more than 25million adults and delivered significant improvement in the image of beer, the focus for 2017 is to convert that positive attitude change into sustained behavioural change.

The programme will build on the success of last year by focusing on changing behaviour through communications and at point of purchase in pubs and retailer venues.  Trade activation will be increased from the levels achieved in 2016, when activity was run in 4000 on-trade outlets across 15 pub companies and 1200 sites across five major off-trade retailers.  “In 2017 we want to extend the scope of events run under the There’s A Beer For That banner and encourage consumer trial through experiential education” said Cunningham. “We already have activations planned in the first quarter with Everards, Shepherd Neame and St Austell and are also in discussions with a range of existing & new off trade retail partners, details of which will follow once our plans are finalised.

“These trade partnerships are critical to communicating the right messages to consumers” continued Cunningham “and we’d urge everyone to think about how they might work with There’s A Beer For That to encourage reappraisal of beer amongst consumers.  A wide range of pub groups and off trade retailers have run successful activity that has not only informed and educated but also had a positive and direct impact on sales. Their experience highlights that those trade partners who haven’t interacted with the campaign or taken advantage of the resources we make freely available really are missing out.”

There’s A Beer For That will also develop fresh media partnerships following successful collaborations with Picturehouse Cinemas and the Daily Telegraph in 2016.  More than 2000 people have attended beer and food sessions at 50 events hosted by Picturehouse around the country to date and will continue to do so through to March. The Daily Telegraph brought beer, food and film together weekly over 5 months, driving a 37% increase in purchase intent amongst their 2million discerning drinker readership.

Digital and social engagement remains central to the programme, generating high levels of interaction, with over 200,000 people a day reached through these platforms. “We have many new initiatives planned” continued Cunningham “including expanding BeerMatch into new channels, live broadcasting and launching BeerForThat on Instagram, celebrating dining with beer. The website (www.beerforthat.com) has also been refreshed with additional content added and it is the primary reference source to discover more about beer styles and food matching.”

There’s A Beer For That has hit the ground running in January with a strong first quarter programme focusing on the goodness in beer including:

• Growing Beer – a partnership with Beer Sommelier, Ben Richards, who will be ‘growing beer’ on a 6m² allotment in Devon. His experiences of growing and brewing beer on such a small plot will help reiterate the key points of diversity, versatility and quality and will challenge people`s preconceptions of beer. His experiences (good & bad) will be captured on film, podcasts & broadcast through the year, culminating in a great party to celebrate the project and hopefully drink the beer!

• Highlighting many aspects of the goodness in beer through social media via a series of posts that educate consumers on the natural ingredients of beer, the lower calories and positive properties of beer vs other drinks, great tasting low & no alcohol beers and suggesting some great beer & food pairings

“I’d urge all brewers, pub companies & retailers to make contact and work with the team leading There’s A Beer For That ([email protected])” said Cunningham. The campaign is so much more effective when we all work together and, after all, who doesn’t want to drive an increase in their beer sales?”