Alcoholic drinks companies are embarking on a raft of new marketing strategies to target drinkers as summer approaches.

As drinkers head back to pub gardens in the fine weather, brands from Guinness to Malibu are launching campaigns to attract consumers buying booze out and about and in the home.

Kicking off a lively summer of events is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June, which brewer Molson Coors is looking to tap into with a sponsorship campaign featuring its Carling lager brand.

Some 300,000 aluminium bottles of Carling are being handed out to street parties around the country, all part of a wider brand-building campaign in the hugely-competitive lager market.

Summer events also form the basis of two cider brands – Kopparberg and Gaymers, which are launching music-themed campaigns to make the most of another packed summer of festivals in the UK.

Another cider make, Bulmers, is turning to new technology and an augmented reality app to promote its drink as the perfect accompaniment to the summer.

Users simply need to point the app at specially-designed campaign beer mats and posters in pubs to get a virtual Bulmers glass rise out of the bar and show them how to pour a perfect pint.

Bulmers brand manager Gillian Graham says the app “adds excitement and value to the Bulmers drinking experience and encourages consumers to seek out the perfect serve wherever they drink Bulmers cider”.

From AR to QR next, and the latest marketing drive from Diageo-owned Guinness.

The stout brand has launched a specially-designed pint glass that displays a QR code – but only when filled with the black stuff.

Scan the code with a smartphone and it “tweets about your pint, updates your Facebook status, checks you in via Foursquare, downloads coupons and promotions, invites your friends to join you, and even launches exclusive Guinness content”, explains AdWeek.

Finally, Malibu is looking to position itself as the perfect drink for women in the sunny weather with a new digital campaign.

Parent company Pernod Ricard is launching the Malibu VIP Facebook app, which lets fans earn “status” each time they engage with the brand on the social network.

Engagement can take the form of playing one of games on the app, reading an article or taking part in a giveaway with one of the brand’s campaign partners, which includes Fake Bake, Heat and ghd.