IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BEER: novembre 2013

samedi 30 novembre 2013

The beers strike back !

Who has never seen a group of friends glued to their smartphones, or a couple who didn't even talk anymore because they are more interested by their mobile phone ?

Because drinking a beer has to go with friendliness, exchange and sharing, the brand Polar has invented an original « beer cooler ». It's particularity: it includes a wave scrambling ! No more groups seated together but glued to their smartphones, Polar wants to give again its true meaning to the drink with friends. What an idea !

Once a beer is introduced in this « cell canceler », all the smartphones present around the table are scrambled and thus become useless. An original idea, which is riding the wave of « dedigitizing » as did Amstel with its operation « Do not share your free time, live it! » : in exchange for a free beer, the brand offered its customers the opportunity to be apart from their mobile phone.

Today, some brands tends to be much more imaginative to emphasize the social aspect of the beer, in a world which is more and more connected. So don't forget that a beer has to be shared with friends and not with your phone !

J.G.

vendredi 29 novembre 2013

Drink it fresh !

Freshness is a key element of beer consumption

The freshness of a beer could be defined as large dose of coldness which goes well with bit of lightness. It could have been defined as the short time that occurs between brewery and distribution. We will use the first definition in that article.

A lot of beer brands used freshness to express the image of their beer.

As a beer consumer, have you ever think about drinking a "tempered" beer?

NEVER! Or at least, if you had choice, you would drink it fresh!

What is strange about freshness is that it is not an own element of the beer.

Brand cannot handle freshness. The consumer has the full control of the temperature. From this fact, we can admit that there is not a beer which is fresher than the other one: It depends on how consumer uses to drink it.

However, most of brands admit that freshness remains an important feature of a beer. Most of them try to attract customers with the powerful freshness of their product.

Corona, the famous Mexican beer, perfectly manages to own this freshness. It is a beer that comes from hot country, which is able to quench thirsty in hottest conditions. Corona brings freshness of the snow up to the beach.

Heineken has launched its "beer spirit by" campaign in 1999 (via Publicis) focusing on freshness:

Pascal Peltier, Group leader at Heineken, comes back about strategy: "Les bons scores tiennent à la fois à la forme de la communication, les couleurs vert, jaune, blanc, et au ton décalé et humoristique. Les annonces « Esquimau » et « Glaçons » parlent de fraîcheur, mais aussi d'expériences différentes de consommation. Heineken ne fait pas que désaltérer, elle permet aussi de passer des moments de convivialité. C'est le sens du concept « L'esprit bière » : faire vivre des moments de fraîcheur pour le corps et pour l'esprit."

Heineken, for a fresher world (2006)

Heineken, so refreshing (2008)

Hoegaarden, presents its white ale beer in the depths of the coldest ocean.

Note that ads are often composed from cold colours (green, blue) and white, whereas beer is highlighted due to its natural yellow colour.

Polar light, Extra Refrescante !!! Venezuela (2010)

Question: what is the recommended temperature of consumption for a beer ? Between 6°C and 8°C according to Heinken.

References:
http://www.strategies.fr/actualites/marques/r26649W/trop-forte-la-heineken.html
http://www.theheinekencompany.com
http://www.prodimarques.com/sagas_marques/heineken/heineken.php
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Sumergidos/801836

mardi 26 novembre 2013

Heineken & Sponsoring

Today we are going to further into the Heineken strategy, the introduction was made, now we are going to go through the serious things!

Let’s come back, in the previous article on the brand, I told you that Heineken used

"sponsoring, presence we the social media, launch of innovative advertising campaigns, use of the top of the edge marketing techniques: marketing street, increased reality, challenge …"

In this article, we are going to be interested in the sponsoring of sport events.

Indeed, although more and more of beer brands sponsor football teams and that Guinness sponsors the Rugby Championship of England; Heineken remains the only beer brand able to sponsor world-known sports events. And the brand owes it to nobody. Indeed, it built its success by associating its image to men and sport. You are going to say " Cliché! " Maybe! But the brand communicates in a more than smart way because it adds fun and makes laugh everybody (men and women). And we are not going to fool ourselves, it is completely and definitely its target.

When we talk about men's sport, the first ones who come in our minds are rugby and football: WON !

Heineken sponsors the European Rugby Cup (also called Cup Heineken or H Cup), which is the most famous European competition between clubs. The best rugby teams of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, Italy and of the Wales participates. And the club which wins is crowned Eurepan Champion… And believe me, it is NOT nothing on the Rugby planet!

As I said before, the competition name is usually H-Cup everywhere in Europe, except in France… Why? Because of the rules on the sponsoring of sport events by the alcohol manufacturers further to the Evin law from 1991.

For the football, Heineken could not do better, it sponsors THE EVENT : the Champion's UEFA League considered as being the most prestigious competitions of football (where we can find the world best teams as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern of Munich, etc.).

And if you did not know, a small reminder just for you and which will remain for me one of the best marketing operations never realized (10 million informed people by press from the following morning, and relieved on the Web, this figure has just skyrocketed).

Do not miss it! : the fake concert organized by Heineken in October, 2009 one evening of Real Madrid - AC Milan in an Italian opera (ground of football, and for some of the male chauvinism?!?)

With these 2 events, Heineken already touches the largest number because it is the 2 most popular sports in Europe but also 2 competitions watched worldwide. But the brand does not stop there, it strengthens its premium image by joining sports reserved mostly for the elite: sail, golf, and tennis.

To the program of this year 2014, Heineken thus sponsors:

The Heineken Open of Auckland (New Zealand) from January 6^th to January 11th with David Ferrer in guest star (world N°3 in the ATP),
The 34th St Maarten Heineken Regatta from March 6^th to March 9th,
And certainly the World Golf Championship in Vietnam (2011-2013) which is not announced yet.

vendredi 22 novembre 2013

Leffe, a beer for the aperitif : the story of a successful repositioning

As mentioned in a previous article, the consumption of beer has been declining steadily for the past decades. People have been focusing more on quality and less on quantity. In this context, in the early 80s, Leffe chose to focus its advertising on tradition, quality and authenticity. The brand was launched in France in the early 70s, and an advertising campaign was started in 1983 to make it the reference of abbey beers.

Leffe's most recent advertisement

As a result of that campaign Leffe became the number one beer in the specialty section, but its consumption was still occasional. Therefore, another positioning was researched for the brand.

After a few months, a new market opportunity was found. It was discovered that the aperitif (before lunch or dinner) represented 32% of the consumption of alcoholic drinks, and that this market was still open and potentially very lucrative. Consequently, the brand decided to focus on this segment.

As a result, the packaging of the beer was changed and an emphasis on the aperitif was put on every ad : the beer was always associated with cheese and « charcuterie ».

In addition, the Leffe 9°, a stronger ale than usual, was launched specifically as a pre-dinner drink and to appeal to whisky drinkers.

The challenge in operating this change was to keep the image of tradition and quality of the brand and at the same time make it reach a larger market.

The campaign was a success because today Leffe is considered the number one beer associated with the aperitif.

Besides, the brand has grown by 50% between 2005 and 2007 in terms of sales, it has been growing by 15% a year on average ever since, and the brand attitude was 85% in 2007 which gives it the best reputation on the market.

Source material :

http://www.prodimarques.com/documents/gratuit/57/leffe.php

http://www.chrexpert.fr/marques/leffe/popularite/

http://www.e-marketing.fr/Thematique/Profession-1008/Breves/Leffe-remet-la-biere-a-l-honneur-24142.htm

mardi 19 novembre 2013

Imagination and creativity : The keys to success for Desperados

Desperados attempts to become the reference brand in terms of artistic creativity. For this, the brand has developed a partnership with the 9th Concept, a Parisian artists collective, made up of painters, graphic designers, photographers, videographers and musicians, and puts its bottle at the heart of its communication.

This collaboration, which has been going on for over ten years, leads to the creation of limited editions every year. The design of the bottles is revisited by the artists of the 9th Concept, who let their imagination run wild and upset the traditional codes of beer, in order to modernize the image of the brand. Up to now, almost 60 Limited Edition bottles have been created !

9th Concept's creations

In addition, Desperados promotes its imagination and creativity in an original way. For example, the brand organized in 2009 an exibition in Paris : « Imagine Desperados by ... ». The brand invited the visitor to discover its creative universe through the exhibition of its advertising campaign revisited by famous nightclubs and cultural magazines (such Tracks and the Inrockuptibles) in their own way, as well as the exhibition of its Limited Edition bottles, created by the 9th Concept. This allowed Desperados to position itself not only as a brand but also as an editor of creative content and a promoter of a certain form of culture.

The second major initiative of the brand took place in 2011 with the creation of an ephemeral bar in Paris, the « Wild Bar », entirely dedicated to the brand ! Many events and parties are organized in order to immerse the guests in the world of the famous beer flavored with tequila. For example, Desperados has recreated a clandestine workshop where the artists of the 9th Concept work directly on posters and custom bags with their visual identity. The brand also organizes original parties during the weeks of the operation : the program includes body painting, showcase of the 9th Concept's musicians as well as the opportunity to taste cocktails made with Desperados like for example the Despejito. Desperados has gone wild !

Finally, the brand offers the beer drinkers the opportunity to create their own Desperados bottle in the website « Imagine your Desperados ». No need to be an experienced designer, this creative workshop offers a large range of colors and designs, some created by the 9th Concept. An online voting is organized in order to select the most distinguished label. And even if you are not selected, you can still order your bottle ! The consumer feels more responsible and listened through this community site.

J.G.

The very best ways to drink beers: Enjoy !

Today, we found a large range of strange (or not, it's up to you) people who drink our blessed beverage in a very... personal way!

PS: We decline all responsibilities if you try this at home ..!

The beer-stairs way

The beer helmet

The upside down way

The "bees-beer"

Through the ear (Does it really works?!?)

Like a president

And finally... The NO-WAY

vendredi 15 novembre 2013

GUINNESS – The most famous stout beer

GUINNESS … an Irish stout beer? For sure, but it is moreover one of the world’s best loved beers.

Since more than 250 years, Guinness has been keeping and managing its image thought the years.

10 millions of pints per day, sold in 150 different countries. Here is an overview of the success of a brand.

The beginning

Born in 1725, Arthur Guinness is the founder of the brand. He bought the old St James’ gate brewery in 1759 in Dublin where the history of his beer began. Nowadays, he remains an important image of the brand. The Guinness storehouse, created in 2000, is the most visited attraction in Ireland. Located in St James’ gate original headquarters, this museum gathers history of the brand, its family and its creator, Arthur.

A bit of story

Arthur Guinness began to brew ale and porter beers at the St James’ brewery. However, facing the increasing demand on porter beer, he decided to stop brewing ale beer in 1799. Porter beer is the origin of the stout beer of today. Guinness started to export his beer abroad in 1769, first in Great Britain, Africa … then all over the world … reaching more than 150 countries today.

Identity card

Brand and strategy

Stout and Irish are the main beer features that most of beer consumers would use to define a Guinness beer. However, Guinness is much more than a beer: This Irish brewery has become a strong icon of the country which managed to go across wars and time. This strong belonging to the country reveals the traditional image of the brand: Guinness has shared more than 250 years with Ireland.

From a short story telling that a soldier recovered from injuries in Waterloo battle by drinking a Guinness, the Irish brand oriented its image on the benefits of the beer for its consumers with the slogan “Guinness is good for you” or “Guinness for strength”. Multiple advertisements use them starting from the beginning of the XX th century, focusing on the virtue of a Guinness beer on health.

At the end of the XX th century, unproved benefits and perception of alcohol do not allow Guinness to maintain its brand strategy.

Guinness is a beer, Guinness is a stout, Guinness is Irish but not only: Guinness is “Made of more”. Tradition was linked to exception in order to symbolize the brand today. Guinness clearly targets men: Strength and deep colour reflects it. However, Guinness has been made for exceptional men ...

Taking a draft beer in a pub, waiting the Nitrogen bubbles to disappear, letting the beer to get its deep dark red colour and its white head … Here is the image that the brand reflects about specificity and traditional pouring of the draft stout beer: “Good things come to those who wait”. You do not pour a Guinness as the other ones … because Guinness is not as the others ... Here again, exception is a key, Guinness suggests to behave as a wise man and exception will come to you ... like the taste of its beer ... after 250 years of tradition !