UK brewers tie with Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube to show there’s a beer for all types of grub
The UK’s beer industry is working with Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube YouTube channel for the next stage of their collective attempt to reignite stuttering beer sales.
The Britain’s Beer Alliance's 'There’s a Beer for That' initiative has the beer credentials to talk to drinkers about its complimentary qualities to food but admittedly can’t fully convince food lovers….yet. Enter Jamie Oliver’s food channel, which has been roped in to stamp its authority on the campaign that promises to combine education and entertainment.
Food Tube luminary, ex-chef and restaurateur John Quilter has been picked to front the episodes, a calculated attempt from the brewers to co-opt his popularity among viewers of the channel. Food lovers will be shown the recipes for three separate dishes – Chilli and Garlic Prawns, Rib Eye with Coffee and Shallot Butter and Four Cheese Mac and Cheese – matched with a different style of beer.
Quilter explains in each video how the beer and food pair together, talking viewers through the different styles and flavours. The selected beers are being kept under wraps but have been chosen to appeal to craft and mainstream beer lovers.
“We’re under a bit of pressure to show results and show what we’re doing is working and so it makes more sense strategically and logistically to partner with people who are experts,” said Louise Doherty, digital lead for the ‘There’s a beer for that’ initiative.
To give the plan every chance of success, the content is not only being pushed across Food Tube’s social media channels but will also be pumped out from the campaign's owned profiles that includes paid social media placements.
The series will also trumpet the #BeerMatch Twitter service, which is fast becoming a key pillar in‘'There’s a Beer for That's bid to get more drinkers drinking different beer styles. People who tweet a recipe to @BeerForThat using the hashtag receive a sommelier-recommended beer match.
“If the TV sets the idea that beer and food is a thing then this [#BeerMatch]is the beer sommelier in your pocket, said Doherty. “It seemed like a no brainer to be able to tell the Jamie Oliver Food Tube audience about our tool. If this content catches their interest then it’s a service we can use to have an ongoing relationship with them.”
Elsewhere, the campaign’s social media tactics are also experiencing changes in order to carve a distinct presence for itself that stands apart from those of its members. If there’s a humorous spin ‘There’s a beer for that’s' team can put on a relevant beer story then it will. For example, earlier this year there was a Prosecco shortage that gave the campaign a chance to show people that there was actually a beer for that occasion – a champagne-style beer.
The activity forms the latest part in the campaign since it launched last October to drive a reappraisal of the category. If it sounds familiar then that’s because it’s the second manifestation of brewers’ combined attempt to arrest volume declines nationwide after the first was deemed not have had the right strategy and had its TV ad banned for linking booze to success.
“Making an informed choice about drinking beer isn’t just for hipsters or something done in London. It’s moved beyond that,” added Doherty.
While the campaign can justly argue its role in this shift, it’s tapped into a wider shift that’s seeing pubs and supermarkets use food to reach more discerning, provenance-seeking drinkers in much the same way they successfully targeted wine drinkers a few years back.
And brewers are putting the final touches to research that should be able to back their campaign’s impact on perceptions nationwide. Alongside this, it’s on the hunt for further partnerships to add to those it already has with Buzzfeed, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and now Food Tube.