Actor, journalist and documentary maker, Ross Kemp, has joined forces with HEINEKEN UK to showcase the benefits of its industry leading SmartDispense® cellar technology in a highly engaging video series launching later this month.

The new campaign, Ross Kemp Behind Bars, will follow Kemp as he visits great pubs up and down the country to find out how SmartDispense® helps licensees save over 20,000 pints per year of beer, cider, water and gas, and deliver the perfect pint every time.

It comes in response to new research showing the importance of serving great quality beer, with 60% of Brits admitting they have left a pub after one drink because they were unsatisfied with the quality of the serve. Furthermore, 12% claim that when served a bad pint they won’t finish it and just leave. The survey also shows that drink quality is the leading reason Brits would recommend a pub to others (31%), while 54% of pub-goers claim they are more likely to go to a pub if they know the venue had invested in equipment that could better ensure quality pints.

Ross Kemp Behind Bars will kick off on 14^th May, with the launch of the first episode in the video series, across SmartDispense® digital channels. As part of the campaign, licensees across the UK will get the chance to win a shift from Ross who will visit the winning venue to serve refreshingly chilled beer and cider to their customers. Anyone signing up to install a SmartDispense® draught system in May, June and July will be entered into the prize draw.

The Ross Kemp Behind Bars campaign will also directly engage with drinkers to remind pub-goers of the hard work that goes into making each pint perfect. The consumer outreach will be supported by a high impact competition and amplification through digital and social channels.   

Will Rice, On-Trade Director, at HEINEKEN UK says: “The pint is at the heart of the British pub experience – it’s that moment where a perfect pour, a clean branded glass, and just the right amount of fizz come together. With HEINEKEN SmartDispense®, we’re on a mission to ensure every pint is perfection, changing the game, ensuring every sip is as perfect as the last. We wanted to lift the lid on the tech behind these perfect pints and who better to help us than one of Britain’s most famous landlords. We know how important quality is to our consumers which is why we’re so excited to not only showcase our HEINEKEN SmartDispense® technology but also shine a light on the hard-working landlords that make it all happen.”

As well as ensuring the perfect pint is poured every time, SmartDispense® enables licensees to save 85% of beer, cider, water and cleaning materials. It also requires fewer line cleans per year, which ultimately saves time, all while increasing the yield of every keg of beer.  

For more information on HEINEKEN SmartDispense® and the prize draw, visit https://smartdispense.heineken.co.uk/events/behind-bars/

Thatchers Cider are back in the studio with multi–Academy Award® winning studio Aardman for the next chapter of their pint-sized perfection advertising campaign. 

Airing for the first time this weekend, the new series of commercials celebrate the nation’s passion for sport, with the pint-sized models adapting their cider making skills to try their hand at football and cricket. 

The adverts, which will go live on sports channels from 18 May 2024 during the Premier League season climax weekend, use stop motion animation to bring viewers through the barn doors of Thatchers’ Myrtle Farm. The first in the series sees Thatchers’ Head Cider Maker, Richard Johnson, reacting to a perfectly ripe apple falling from the tree, requiring football skills to match his cider making expertise. To make the models lifelike, Aardman animators based his movements on that of football legends. 

The adverts will run across the FA Cup Final and UEFA Euro 2024 tournament as well as the women’s Euro 2025 qualifiers.  

Having tried their hand at football, the Thatchers puppets will next be challenged to use their century of cider making skills to get across the line on the cricket pitch. The cricket adverts will broadcast alongside the Vitality Blast matches from the end of May and into the international cricket season this summer.

The commercials are directed by award-winning talent Magdelena Osinska at Aardman studios in Bristol who says: “What makes Thatchers and Aardman such a perfect match is not just our shared west country heritage, but how we both marry traditional techniques with modern technology to achieve perfection. 

“To bring our characters to life we blend traditional stop motion animation with state-of-the-art visual effects. At Thatchers they use their 120 years of expertise, coupled with state-of-the-art technology to create the perfect pint.” 

With total dedication to their craft, it took a team of 34 people to bring the pint-sized world to life. Using puppets based on the Thatchers family and real people working at the farm, the animators shoot around 2 seconds of film a day. 

Through painstaking attention to detail, such as using a toothbrush and toothpick to comb the dog’s fur between frames, or making the clothes from real fabric worn by the Thatchers, Aardman breathed life into the pint-sized models. 

Martin Thatcher, fourth generation cider maker and star of the ads says; “Working with Aardman is a dream come true. We’re two South West businesses, filled with slightly obsessed perfectionists, that have used their attention to detail to become world leaders in their crafts. 

“Down on the family farm we’ve been making cider with nothing but love for four generations and 120 years. It’s our dedicated attention to detail that delivers the perfect pint. It could only be Aardman, a company that shares the total commitment to painstaking perfection and is renowned for bringing joy to people’s lives, that could bring Thatchers to life in such an entertaining and heart-warming way.” 

Fun facts from behind the scenes of the adverts

•   There are different sizes of apple ranging from tangerine size to chickpea size, depending on the scale of set or the perspective.

•   Aardman used approximately 12 pairs of hands to keep the puppets looking good on set and had to replace them after each time they hold an apple as the glue would remove the paint.

•   585 storyboard panels were drawn to script out the adverts. 

•   302 hand painted apples were made for the shoot, with three different sizes needed to match the scale.

•   The upturned collar of Head Cider Maker Richard is a nod to footballing legend, Eric Cantona.

Kate Cox, CEO of Bray Leino, who are Thatchers’ creative agency and worked in partnership on the project said: “We’re really excited about this series of ads. It’s a beautiful continuation of the Thatchers-Aardman partnership which extends the story from last year’s master brand ad. As well as aligning Thatchers with sporting events, we really wanted to further immerse audiences in the Thatchers brand, with touching nods to the family nature of the business.”

The commercial will be part of a multi-media campaign including linear TV, video on demand, cinema and YouTube. This will be enhanced by outdoor advertising and a consumer focussed social media campaign running across the summer.

If you run an outstanding pub, enter the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence now! Local awards competitions take place across the country and eligible winners are forwarded to the national competition, the highest accolade in English tourism.

The Awards offer businesses great PR opportunities and can help you to gain a competitive edge. They provide an opportunity to reflect on what is working well for you and, through feedback from an independent judge, help you to improve and develop your business. It’s also a great opportunity to celebrate and reward your staff and the awards events enable you to network with other award-winning businesses in your area.

For useful tips on how to make your entry stand out and advice from Stay in a Pub CEO Sophie Braybrooke, Robin Barker from the South West and Beautiful South Tourism Awards and the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence Project Manager Vicky Parr, join our FREE webinar on Wednesday 15 May at 10am. 

Places are limited so book now.

On Tuesday 30 April, 140 team members from across Fuller’s, and Special Olympics GB, walked 20 miles between two Fuller’s pubs – The Bell & Crown in Chiswick and The Conductor, Farringdon – raising money for its charity partner, Special Olympics GB. The Bridge Walk raised £28,500 – to help fund regular sporting opportunities that can transform the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities across England, Scotland and Wales.

The walkers, comprising colleagues from Fuller’s pubs and hotels and support centre, along with Special Olympics GB team members and athletes, set off from The Bell & Crown by Kew Bridge first thing in the morning. Their first stop, after crossing two bridges on the route, was The Red Lion in Barnes and from there they walked to The Mason’s Arms in Battersea – crossing two more bridges along the way. The group then set off on the next leg – from The Mason’s Arms to The Banker by Canon Street station. On this leg of the journey, the walkers crossed nine bridges along the Thames. The final part of the walk was a short, four mile walk – including two more bridges and weaving its way through the City – from The Banker to The Conductor. The full walk was just over 20 miles and took around eight hours to complete.

Simon Emeny, Fuller’s Chief Executive, said: “It was great to see so many of our colleagues out, fundraising for Special Olympics GB which has been our charity partner since 2018. This was our third Bridge Walk and it was the biggest one yet. It was an honour to have some of the Special Olympics GB athletes join us on the day – including Lloyd Martin who recently set a new record as the youngest person with Down Syndrome to complete the London Marathon. Days like this are a fantastic way for our team members to meet some of the people their fundraising supports.”

Laura Baxter MBE, CEO of Special Olympics GB, said: “Thank you, once again, to Fuller’s for organising another fantastic day. The Bridge Walk is not only about raising vital funds for Special Olympics GB – but about strengthening our partnership. I know the nine athletes present today really enjoyed getting to know our friends at Fuller’s and spirits were high all day – down to the last mile of the walk. We are all looking forward to next year’s event.” 

Brewing industry trade association SIBA are today launching their new brand identity, with a fresh new look for the association and a change in their name to reflect the expanding membership, becoming the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates.

As well as representing independent breweries SIBA also have brewing industry Supplier Associate members, including ingredients suppliers, brewery manufacturers and service companies, and more recently expanded their membership to include associate homebrewer and international brewing members.

“Independent beer and brewers are the heart of what SIBA is about and always will be. As our organisation has grown to reflect wider parts of the industry, we’ve evolved our name to include that. We’ve taken the opportunity of a rebrand to build on the SIBA name that we’re best known by, and to clarify the wider appeal of SIBA membership and what it means to be a part of that – putting independence at the heart of who we are.” Andy Slee, SIBA Chief Executive. 

The new SIBA logo highlights ‘Independent’ in the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates and uses a ‘loudhailer’ symbol to emphasise SIBA as the Big Voice of Independent Beer. The colourful new branding was developed by Ape Creative, SIBA Head of Comms and Marketing Neil Walker, and a working group of SIBA brewers and Board members who offered a diverse range of perspectives to the project.

SIBA say one of the core principles of the new brand is its adaptability – taking inspiration from Museums and Art Galleries who need to be able to curate and promote a broad range of artists.

“SIBA has been around since 1980 and has a diverse membership of very different businesses and breweries, some with long histories and heritages and other newer businesses who themselves are making a big impact on our industry. The evolution of not only the SIBA brand but the name of the organisation has been done to better reflect that membership, a modern brand which is adaptable and flexible, to work in different ways for different audiences.” Neil Walker, SIBA Head of Comms & Marketing.

Founded in 1980 as the ‘Small Independent Brewers Association’, SIBA changed its name in 1995 to ‘the Society of Independent Brewers’ but kept the original acronym for which they have now become well-known in the industry. The rebrand will see the organisation move forwards as SIBA – The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates.

To read more about the rebrand project click here