Despite serving the country for generations, our pubs are under threat from a range of pressures, and right now they are closing at a rate of 3 per day; if this continues, within 10 years we could lose a quarter of Britain’s pubs.

One of the biggest pressure’s pubs face is a growing tax burden, with 1 in every £3 spent in pubs going straight to the taxman. This is simply not sustainable.

We needed to launch a new long-term campaign to persuade the British Government to cut beer tax, despite the fact that he has already committed not to do so.

The key KPIs for our campaign were maximising petition signatures and the number of emails that constituents sent to MPs, through an integrated campaign spearheaded via PR (as opposed to the other way around).

Generating and maintaining momentum in earned channels ensured that we achieved our ultimate goal.

Long Live The Local. A rallying cry for everything we believe in; our beer, our pubs, our community and our culture. A new movement celebrating the life, vitality, and the key role that pubs play in British society. One that doubles up as a call on the government to cut beer tax.

A brand new idea. A rallying cry for everything we believe in:

LONG LIVE THE LOCAL.

To make it feel like it was made 'by the people for the people', we developed a:

PROTEST-INSPIRED VISUAL IDENTITY

A shorthand graphic tied our integrated campaign together.

Our pint glass ‘exclamation mark’ became:

AN ICON FOR OUR MOVEMENT

A clear simple call to action:

SIGN THE PETITION TO CUT BEER TAX

Each execution - across earned, owned and paid channels - delivered our strategy with maximum impact via a simple narrative structure: Evoke emotion, raise jeopardy, drive action.

1. TARGETING

Research showed The Chancellor is not swayed by traditional lobbying campaigns.

We made people, not politicians, our primary target audience.

2. MESSAGING

We analysed the architecture of successful modern movements and applied it.

HEART. HEAD. HANDS.

HEART: Make it emotional. And personal.

A few pence off a pint wouldn’t motivate people to take action. So we reframed the problem, positioning beer tax as a direct threat to the Great British Pub.

HEAD: Give people ammunition to justify the cause.

In consumer research, one stat won overwhelmingly: “Every day, three pubs close their doors for good”. This created real jeopardy about the scale of the problem, making it tangible for editorial media and online commentators.

HANDS: Make it easy for people to act.

We needed as many people as possible to sign a petition. To drive this behaviour, we had to make the process of responding easy.

The co-creation of a new ‘brand’ for a new movement. A rallying cry for everything we believe in: LONG LIVE THE LOCAL.

The development of a comprehensive PR strategy targeting consumer news, business, political, lobbying and trade media channels. With the help of industry figure heads, spokespeople and celebrities.

Our hero film described The Pub as “Our culture. Our identity. The life of the village. The heart of the town. The soul of the country”, then delivers our rational punch. Highly emotional. Highly responsive. Promoted through social media and supported by an influencer program.

In-pub activation kits enabled pub-owners to play their part. Posters, coasters, table toppers, window stickers drove response at the most relevant time and place.

A significant OOH campaign supported nationwide.

Ease of response drove people to our mobile-first website. A three-click process enabled visitors to sign the petition and auto-generate an email to their local MP.

We chose NOT to measure effectiveness in terms of reach or volume of coverage. This was a campaign that needed to deliver in a far more tangible sense, generating the ultimate circumstance of behavioural change.

The campaign created a deeply emotional connection to an issue that would ordinarily barely reach public consciousness. Reaching beyond the figures and policy and showing real people the importance of adding their support to the cause meant that consumers responded in their droves.

The LONG LIVE THE LOCAL campaign inspired widespread action from the masses and made a visible, positive change to industry and people’s personal livelihoods.

The ambition for this campaign wasn’t product sales or brand awareness, it was a public declaration by the Chancellor to freeze the beer tax. And it worked.