Cask Ale Week is an annual campaign designed to drive footfall into pubs and highlight cask ale as a British icon. It runs from the 21 September – 1 October 2023.
Last year, the hashtag #CaskAleWeek had a social media reach of 15.8 million people and the engagement by trade this year in preparation for the event has been very encouraging. Cask Marque, along with the Cask Matters Group, has already invested significant resources to ensure the event builds on last year’s success.
Many brewers have Cask Ale Week in their marketing plans including Greene King. Holly Smith, Greene King Brewing & Brands Communications Manager, said:
“To celebrate and drive awareness of cask this September, Greene King will be launching several pieces of activity with consumers and with trade press. To drive awareness of cask with consumers, the brewer will be working with a number of influencers to visit Greene King pubs and share what makes cask great and the reasons to get to the pub for a pint. Greene King has also surveyed 2,000 beer and cider drinkers on some key questions that will be announced in a release during Cask Ale Week.”
Pub retailers have organised events during the week. Punch Pubs have sent Cask Ale Week merchandising kits to their licensees, Trust Inns have special kits to give away and Admiral Taverns have incentives for holding beer festivals throughout the week to name but a few.
Once again, Cask Marque will be encouraging their thousands of Ale Trailers on the CaskFinder app to visit 12 new pubs during the week to win a limited edition t-shirt; this years’ guest designer is Matt Jackson, Director at Lancaster Brewery. In 2022, over 300 t-shirts were given away as prizes and 6,219 pubs were visited for the first time by users.
The Cask Ale Week website has an interactive map of events for customers to find and a list of other activities that are happening to encourage drinkers to discover – and fall in love with – cask ale.
Your events, special offers and competitions can be listed for free on the Cask Ale Week website, the CaskFinder App and promoted on the Cask Ale Week social media channels. Simply submit your event via the website or email info@cask-marque.co.uk with all the details and remember to use #CaskAleWeek on all of your social media activity.
The more people that promote and participate, the more successful the event will be for the benefit of both pubs and cask.
For inspiration, downloadable resources and information packs (including our famous Cask Ale Week quiz written by Annabel Smith, Cask Marque’s Training Manager and resident beer expert), please visit the dedicated pub and brewery section on the Cask Ale Week website.
Also as part of Cask Ale Week celebrations, Cask Matters will hold The Future of Cask Seminar at Brewers Hall in London on Thursday 28th September 2023 – should you wish to attend, please contact Helen@cask-marque.co.uk.
For more information or to list your events visit www.caskaleweek.co.uk or contact Helen on info@cask-marque.co.uk / 01206 752212.
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Logos and assets are available to download on the Cask Ale Week website here.
Social media:
Facebook: National Cask Ale Week
Instagram: @caskaleweek2023
Twitter: @caskaleweek
NOTES TO EDITORS
Cask Ale Week
Cask Ale Week was created to act as an umbrella promotion for pubs to encourage footfall into pubs using Cask Ale as the central theme. Pubs can create their own events or link into their current activity for the week. These events are then included on the Cask Ale Week website and promoted on social media and the Caskfinder App used 60,000 times a month to find Cask Marque pubs.
The event was created by Cask Marque with the support of Cask Matters, a group of brewers and retailers interested in the longer term success of cask ale.
Cask Marque
Cask Marque is a not for profit organisation that promotes best practice in the industry from grain to glass covering brewers, supply chain and retailers. It also has a training arm. It undertakes over 22000 visits a year to pubs offering support.
For more information or to list your events visit www.caskaleweek.co.uk or contact Helen on info@cask-marque.co.uk / 01206 752212.
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