The pitfalls of language

And you’d thought that the slogan "it brings out the action in you" was innocent enough? That it did not refer to what others call "horizontal jogging"? Oh ye innocents. You have just fallen into the pitfalls of language. For as long as marketers can think - and that’s quite some time - they have used promotional language that is deliberately loaded and thrives on the three "i"s of Innuendo, Insinuation and Implication. Only the most naive back home in the UK were convinced that the slogan "Guinness is good for you" just meant - well what it said. In the rest of the world consumers knew: wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. For some reason or other Guinness’ marketers have always excelled at this sort of promotional language. Do consumers get the message? Definitely. ....

Moving closer

Expansion is still the rule of the game for Pierre Castel. But in a move that represents a departure from his previous strategy, he now accepts partners. Despite the political and economic risks associated with the North African states, especially Algeria, Castel has managed to extend his joint venture with SABMiller to include Algeria and Morocco. In Algeria, a country of 31 million people, SABMiller acquired a 25 percent direct interest in two Castel carbonated soft drink plants and one brewery, together with a 15.8 percent stake in a second brewery, in which Castel is a majority shareholder. In neighbouring Morocco (30 m inhabitants) SABMiller bought a 25 percent interest in a holding company which has controlling interests in three breweries and a malting plant.3 times sales.....

Patient is sitting up

Sometimes it makes you wonder if the sense of tact has gone out with bowler-hat-and-umbrella-brigade. How are Miller’s employees supposed to feel after SABMiller’s group chairman, the South African Jacob Meyer Kahn, compared the number 2 brewer in the US to a "patient sitting up and taking liquids"? Admittedly, the Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. has not been doing too well in the past. But has Miller fared so badly to deserve such a cruel comparison? According to SABMiller’s interim statement, the group has done very well in the six months to 30 September 2003, when a 32 percent increase in adjusted earnings to USD0.35 a share was achieved.
Turnover at the second-largest beer group in the world was up 59 percent to USD6.3 billion from just under USD4 billion.1 percent..

End of story

It could have been a re-run of the David vs. Goliath story: little brewer takes on giant brewer. Alas, it was not to be. Even before David could aim his shot at Goliath, he stumbled and fell down. As happened to Bavaria Brau, the South African brewer of traditional German type beers that was put in provisional liquidation this year.
Negotiations have taken place between the liquidators of Bavaria Brau, and two parties interested in either investing in the brewery and resuming production or acquiring the company’s assets. The liquidators have until 3 February 2004 to negotiate a deal with prospective investors or buyers of the company.
The brewery (capacity: 50,000 hl p.a. The founder of the brewery, German-born Georg Funk, died earlier this year..

New brooms

Quietly but steadily Heine-ken and UK drinks group Diageo have used their muscles to exert their control over Namibia Breweries. In April they bought an effective 28,98 percent of Namibia Breweries (NBL) from Belgian brewer Interbrew for EUR31 million. Interbrew had "inherited" the stake as part of the Beck’s deal but wanted to get rid of it as the investment did not fit its strategy. For Heineken and Diageo (which owns Guinness) the stake represented an ideal opportunity to gain a foothold in the neighbouring South African market which is controlled by SABMiller. The first significant sign of the new broom at work came in September when long-time Managing Director Bernd Masche was replaced by Marcus von Blottnitz. In 1976 he was promoted to General Manager. The contract expires in 2008..

Black label takes top spot

Carling Black Label, according to AC Nielsen, has knocked Castle Lager off the country’s top selling beer list. Black Label accounts for 33% of total beer sales in South Africa’s ZAR10-billion a year beer market (USD1.4 bn), while Castle Lager accounts for 31%. Another SABMiller brand, Hansa, came in third, with 23% of sales. AC Nielsen believes that an increase in sales of quart bottles and a boost to advertising spending on the brand (from ZAR22 million to over ZAR27 million) contributed to Black Label overtaking SABMiller’s flagship brand, Castle Lager.
SABMiller spent ZAR42 million on advertising for Castle Lager in the first six months of the year..

SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer, posted an increase in adjusted earnings a share for the first quarter of fiscal 2003 (30 June 2003) as unusually warmer weather fuelled demand for beer in Europe. It was reported that the European businesses h...

Told you so

Schadenfreude (trans. "malicious glee") may have originated with the Germans, but it seems to be experienced the world over where English is spoken or they would have come up with a term themselves. Anyway, there must have been quite a few people who responded to SABMiller’s full year financial announcement with a hearty laugh, especially when CEO Graham Mackay had to admit at the end of May 2003 that Miller’s problems appear to be deeper than originally thought. Really. Didn’t everybody tell him so? In the year ended 31 March 2003, SABMiller doubled its turnover to USD9.1 billion. Excluding Miller, which has been included for nine months, turnover was 29% higher at USD5.6 billion. Earnings before interest, tax and goodwill amortisation were 66% higher at USD1.27 billion.8%.2%.7%..

Bad press

Looks like SABMiller has had a spell of bad press in recent weeks. At the end of May 2003, the prestigious University of the Witwatersrand sociology of work unit issued a report which argued that the South African food and beverage industry’s social and environmental responsibility programmes had failed to deal strategically with the problem of overcoming hunger in society.
For "South African food and beverage industry" read also "SABMiller". "If anything, the level of retrenchment in the industry is such that the problem has probably become more acute", David Fig, the unit’s industrial psychology professor was reported as saying.
South Africa’s food industry accounts for 14.4%, or 185,728, of manufacturing jobs..

... and ACTION!

"Born for dangerous adventures, bred to take hardship, pain and fearful threats with cold courage, educated to be a gentleman who can mix it with the best and the worst of them - he is the true hero of our day and age." That’s the billing they gave "Bond, James Bond" in 1964. Add 40 years, take away the dry martini and relocated to Africa and you’ve got Michael Power, Africa’s answer to 007. Michael Power, who started out as Guinness’ brand icon in Nigeria four years ago, has been put on a "Critical Assignment" to uncover the truth behind a tale of corruption, greed and deception. It’s probably one of the first films coming out of Africa which openly deals with corruption in high places ... and makes it past the censors. Moreover, Africa is one of the fastest growing markets for Guinness..