Title – Weatherspoon’s cuts likely to kick off price war
Source – The Times
Date – 3rd January 2009
There is a reason that Weatherspoon’s is still such a successful brand, they seem to have the knack of gaining a march on their competitors, without really doing too much themselves.
This latest flurry into starting a ‘price war’ when you look at it is not just a master stroke but also a relatively cheap one. They have been given nationwide coverage on television, newspapers and the internet, not because of the generosity of the price reduction, but because of a subtle dig at ‘minimum pricing’ and the ‘binge drinking’ backlash.
The 99p pint of IPA at Weatherspoon’s has already led to the inevitable calls for curbs on binge drinking and the implementation of legislation on
Responsible Alcohol Retailing. The publicity and comment has served only to do one thing, promote their 99p pint!Source – The Times
Date – 3rd January 2009
There is a reason that Weatherspoon’s is still such a successful brand, they seem to have the knack of gaining a march on their competitors, without really doing too much themselves.
This latest flurry into starting a ‘price war’ when you look at it is not just a master stroke but also a relatively cheap one. They have been given nationwide coverage on television, newspapers and the internet, not because of the generosity of the price reduction, but because of a subtle dig at ‘minimum pricing’ and the ‘binge drinking’ backlash.
The 99p pint of IPA at Weatherspoon’s has already led to the inevitable calls for curbs on binge drinking and the implementation of legislation on
There really is no credible argument against this discount while supermarkets are selling cans at 30p on the very same high streets. Will this add to violence and disturbance on the streets? The argument has to be that IPA does not really constitute a significant part of the binge drinker’s repertoire. Weatherspoon’s are well respected and well run, they even found themselves in some hot water in 2008 for their overly cautious approach to parent drinking when they were accompanied by children (see ‘Pub chain limits parents’ drinks’). They would supervise a customer who has consumed 10 pints (at a cost of £9.90); the same can not be said about the person who bought a crate of 24 cans (at a cost of £7.20) from the supermarket.
How competitors react to this clever promotion of the Weatherspoon’s brand (rather than the IPA brand) will be interesting; you can’t help but feel they have already missed the boat.
The key to longer term success especially with this type of promotion, is promoting it alongside Responsible Alcohol Retailing; the two must go hand in hand. Price reductions can be very effective, but if they are accompanied by increased levels of binge drinking rather than increased numbers of customers they will be counter productive to the promotion of the licensing objectives.
At Beyond the Blue we run a number of industry specific courses to promote responsible alcohol retailing and to up-skill the sector. The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) qualifies candidates to sell and authorise the sale of alcohol by providing candidates with the qualification required to apply for a personal licence; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) provides front-line employees with the knowledge they require to promote the licensing objectives and their business in a responsible manner.
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