Brewers of Europe propose generic beer campaign
“Love beer” is the moniker of a generic beer campaign that is presently being tested in five European countries. If the campaign syncs with consumers, it could be rolled out across the European Union as of April 2014, provided national brewers’ associations are willing to cough up the money to run it in their own countries.
That’s the big question mark. From what we have heard at BRAUWELT International, several brewers’ associations are not happy with the whole idea, which was pushed – no surprise, really – by Europe’s major brewers Heineken, Carlsberg, AB-InBev and SABMiller. Especially Nordic and central European associations seem to have fundamental reservations: their respective regulatory environments may not allow them to use some or most of the tools provided by the generic campaign, which is structured like a letter case, from which associations can take their pick.
Besides, several member associations are seriously strapped for funds, while others (like Germany) have long bid adieu to generic beer campaigns.
Another question mark hangs over the moniker itself: isn’t perhaps the implicit imperative “love beer! Or…” too aggressive to effectively make consumers change their minds over beer?
No doubt, there are plenty of reasons why brewers should boost the image of beer in Europe. Over the past decade, Europe’s brewers have lost substantial volumes in a critical mass of markets, with further losses of beer volumes expected up to 2020 if no action is taken.
But rather than doing some honest brow-beating, brewers believe that the key reasons behind the beer category not being in good shape are negative consumer perceptions, association with bad news and being an easy target for taxation.
According to internal documents, Europe’s brewers say that two major barriers stand behind the negative category image: about 60 percent of Europeans think that beer is fattening and therefore not fitting healthy lifestyles; about 25 percent believe that beer is old-fashioned.
The campaign hopes to remove the barriers driving the negative category image and debunk some myths about beer. Laudably, rather than aiming at increasing per capita consumption amongst existing beer consumers, those responsible for the campaign say it is targeted at improving the image of beer with women as they are the gatekeepers to the category.
Oh dear, haven’t we all known for long that women are the biggest hurdle to beer paradise? Don’t women have a poor perception of beer (fattening, too masculine, not modern/contemporary)? Isn’t it women who influence which drinks mixed-gender groups buy in bars? Isn’t it women (45 percent) who do the grocery shopping, including that of beer for domestic consumption?
So why only target women now? Haven’t those marketing guys, who will decide if this campaign will sink or swim, in their own beer advertisements always given women a wide berth? I, for one, cannot remember having seen a beer commercial in recent years that had women as protagonists enjoying a beer. Most often, they only served as bimbo-itic spoil-sports standing between men and their well-deserved beer.
Even at the risk of putting a damper on high hopes, it should be pointed out that female consumers have long memories and know how to bear a grudge.
The Brewers of Europe have pledged EUR 1.7 million of their funds to this campaign, which covers agency fees, market research and tool kit production. National campaigns will outstrip these costs by far. Some estimates put the figure at EUR 22 million for the campaign’s 18 priority markets.
At a meeting in Switzerland in February the Brewers of Europe will discuss the results of initial market tests and we should find out who will take part in it and who will not.
