Beermats & fly tipping, getting the message over

Everyone accepts that fly tipping is becoming an increaing problem as the cost of rubbish disposal in landfill sites increases every year. Now some of the local councils are using beermats, which coincidentally are themselves 100% recyclable, to deliver a hard-hitting message in relation to this illegal and anti-social activity.

Gateshead Council used 40,000 branded beermats to deliver quirky and innovative messages to raise awareness of the campaign aimed at capturing the public’s imagination and encouraging them to take ownership of their Borough.

Two distinctive designs were utilised bearing images of environmental crimes as well as details of the fines attached to the offence. One was aimed at street litter, such as takeaway rubbish and other forms of fast food waste, whilst the other was aimed at fly tippers. The council emphasised that anyone caught dropping litter could face a fine of up to £50 whilst fly tippers could risk fines of up to £50,000.

The beermats were distributed to local pubs and clubs who were said to have been fully behind the campaign and its virtues.

Beermats have become a popular and inexpensive medium for advertising, branding and campaign messages used by many governement agencies, charities and businesses to deliver their messages. Because they can now be ordered in smaller quantities, are typically litho-printed in full colour, they are perfectly suited to targeted campaigns. No longer the sole domain of breweries, beermats are being used in mailers, at shows, as business cards and in upmarket restaurants and hotels.

How to design a beermat

Because different manufacturers may have variations, it is always worth checking first, but as a general guide the following would apply to designing a beermat.

Most beermats are printed square with rounded corners or less commonly, are round. Beermats are normally 94mm square or 94mm diameter. However, the beermats have to be printed and cut, therefore it is not acceptable to simply provide artwork which is 94mm. The following guidelines relate to a ’square’ beermats with rounded corners, but the general principles would apply equally to a 94mm diameter beermat.

Artwork should be provided 100mm x 100mm. This allows for a 4mm guide, the cut edge and a bleed area. Edge borders should be a minimum of 7mm (4mm plus bleed). The beermat itself is 94mm x 94mm and the corner radius is 6.35mm. Because of the absorbent nature of genuine beermat board, the design process must always be treated differently to normal paper stock. For example, fonts must be a minimum of 7 point and for ‘reversed out’ text, a minimum of 9 point. Gold, silver and florescent’s are not accepted colours, although they can normally be provided as a ’spot colour’ but this can add considerably to any price quoted.

Although beermats are typically litho-printed using the industry standard CMYK, because the board is manufactured using a particularly absorbent substrate, colour variances are inevitable, therefore if anyone has a particular pantone in mind for their company logo, they should stick with coated paper!

Most beermat manufacturers now insist on a high resolution PDF of the design, those that do not will normally insist that the image is converted to process colours and saved at a minimum of 300 dpi. Some of the more ’switched on’ beermat manufacturer will offer an in-house design service, more often than not, at favourable rates, so it is always worth enquiring. If you want to deal with the manufacturer direct, it is best to ask a few pertinent questions, because some company’s lay claim to be a manufacturer when they are not and others may not even be based in the country you are from…relying instead on a ‘virtual office’ address!

Beer mats and the Metropolitan Police

The Police forces up and down the country are no strangers to using beermats to get their message across. However, the Metropolitan Police have used beermats on a number of high profile campaigns, which include, Domestic Violence, Anti-Drugs, Operation Trident, False Reporting as well as Stop & Search Recommendations.

 

Distributed into pubs within their jurisdiction, beermats have been a considered to be valuable additional medium to deliver direct messages straight to the target audience.

 

With the average public house consuming around 1000 beermats per month, messages delivered on a beermat can be fresh, informative and an excellent talking point. Some beermat manufacturers also offer distribution direct to pubs and clubs in a targeted area or nationally.

Cancer awareness campaigns using beermats

Once again beermats prove their worth as a medium for delivering serious messages to a targeted audience. Every year, some 27,000 men are diagnosed with prostrate cancer and 10,000 die from this disease. The UK based ‘Prostate Cancer Charity’ launched a campaign called ‘Real Man’ which was aimed at raising awareness of this disease. The beermats featured a quiz which offered prizes which included £200 of Dixons vouchers.

 

This campaign, once again, proved how beermats can be utilised to deliver a serious message as well as offer a little fun. By utilising the option of printing different design on the front and back of the beermat, the charity maximised the impact of their message.

 

Whilst this particular campaign was targeted at men drinking in pubs, beer mats are often used for direct mail campaigns, free giveaways and at conferences. Some companies also offer pre-printed beermats with serious, fun and safety awareness messages.

Free beermats for UK pub landlords

Nothing in the world is free, or so the saying goes, but a UK based beermat manufacturer has just turned this concept on it’s head by offering free beermats for landlords of public houses in the UK. Yes licensees can now register to receive free beermats.

With the average public house consuming more than 1000 beer mats a month and the major breweries reducing the number of beermats available to landlords, this is likely to be welcomed. UK beermat manufacturer Thirstys, has launched a programme allowing landlords or licensees to register for free beermats. Working hand in glove with companies seeking to promote their products, messages or brand, Thirstys will distribute free beer mats to participating landlords.

Finally, an online store selling pre-printed beermats!

Well not everyone has the time or inclination to have their own beermats printed, no matter how easy the process or inexpensive. We often need someone to do the thinking for us and why not?

A new online retailer has jost gone live, The Beermat Inn, offering a range of pre-printed beermats, all categorised to make selection an absolute breeze. They have put a lot of thought into the designs and the messages and by all accounts, the range is going to expand every week, so there is every reason to go back on a regular basis. Smart, yes? They also have a ‘wish list’ form, so visitors can tell them what sort of beermats they want in the future.

The pre-printed beermats offer a wide range of messages and topics. From Birthdays, through to weddings, anniversaries and other annual events such as Christmas and Halloween. There is a fun side and a serious side. For example, they have pre-printed beermats that offer sales messages, customer service messages and even life-saving tips, such as what to do with someone that has had a suspected heart attack, electric shock or in unconscious. So, all in all, quite useful.

For businesses, they have common ‘health & safety’ messages printed on the beermats, sales or closing tips for companies in the sales business and even tips, advice of just good practice for customer service people taking calls everyday, with their trusty mug of tea in front of them!

So, if you haven’t got the time or inclination to have your own mats printed, then why not take a look, if nothing else, it may provide you with the inspiration for your own range of beer mats.

Beer Mats get the message across

No doubt about it, if you want to get your message across to a wide audience, then the humble beermat is about as good as it gets! With new manufacturing processes, it is now possible to print much smaller volumes of beermats and at a price that makes it a truly mass market advertising, promotions and marketing tool.

More and more companies are now turning to beermats to get their message across, including the UK Police force, cancer research companies, local authorities with environmental messages to name but a few. Some of the more forward thinking governement agencies and charities have even managed to get their beermats paid for. How, by selling the reverse of the beermat to a third party. Becuase beermats can have different design both front and back, a charity for example, could have their message on one side and their ’sponsors’ on the other.

Other companies getting in on the act are taxi and and private hire businesses. They have recognised that 1000 full colour beermats for under £100 can really get their advertising message over to a targeted audience.

For those that are concerned about the environment, genuine beermats are made of pulp board, you have to be careful, there are a good number of ‘fales’ out there, therefore, genuine beermats are 100% recyclable.

Some beermat manufacturers, such as UK based Thirstys, even offer distribution. So you can order 100,000 beermats and have them delivered to a targeted number of pubs in you area. Great! That notwithstanding, the landlords are often grateful for free beermats, given the average pub will consume 1000 beermats per month. But because beermats are reusable, you can be sure, that before they get replaced, they will have been seen by 100’s of people.

Now it is even possible to buy pre-pinted beermats, for Birthdays, anniversaries, or if you prefer, business, customer service and sales message. These can typically be purchased online through Beermat Stores.

So next time you see a beermats, remember it probably has a story to tell and the people using this medium are wise to the ways of making their advertising money work for them and if that was not enough, they probably care about the environment as well.