In a bid to show real ale isn’t just supped by cardigan-wearing men in sensible shoes we needed a light-hearted approach to encourage lager lovers to switch to the UK’s national drink. We wanted to do to real ale what Starbucks had done to coffee – give people a real choice as to how they like it served.
Working with Greene King beer experts we devised a gadget which gave people a choice of two heads for their beer - flat or frothy - and coined it, the North or South pour. The fact is that beyond Watford gap beer drinkers like a loose frothy head while in the South they favour a top to their tipple.
Even though we’d persuaded Mayor Boris Johnson to turn up for a pint in a London pub at the start of Cask Ale Week, we knew not every one would be that easy to persuade… If people wouldn’t come to us to taste the beer, we’d have to go to them - courtesy of the UK’s first mobile pub. Our pedal powered pub took to the streets of London for a unique sampling session on which Greene King’s Chief Brewer John Bexon gave impromptu beer tastings to punters, many of whom were trying real ale for the first time.
We boosted news of the new beer serve by stoking the age old North/South divide debate amongst the media and via columnists; and encouraged lager amnesties across the country by offering free pints of Greene King IPA.
Nationals including The Mail, Mirror, Times, Express and Metro loved the campaign; as did the regionals and Twitter came alive with support. In terms of sampling success, in one day alone the tiny mobile pub got through four casks of the new look Greene King IPA.