Let there be beer
Faced with falling beer sales in UK pubs, which were down by almost 50 million pints in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year, the UK’s major brewers decided to plough millions of pounds into a joint TV campaign which was launched at the end of June 2013.
The 60 second TV ad “Let there be beer” was first shown on 29 June 2013 and features people on the verge of a nervous breakdown: a party organizer who slaves away at the barbeque while his guests are frolicking about in the sun; a young man who meets the doting father of his beloved for the first time; and a woman who is inundated with a literal mountain of work on a late Friday afternoon. But just before their nerves snap, the tide turns for the better – thanks to a well-deserved beer.
The TV ad is part of a bigger campaign which is to run for three years and
originated from a meeting between the CEOs of AB-InBev, Heineken, Molson Coors, Carlsberg and SABMiller 18 months ago in which they discussed how to reignite the beer category in key markets such as the UK.
All five have contributed different levels of investment but each has put in a large amount. The total level of investment is being kept under wraps, UK media report.
The Chief Executive of Carlsberg UK, Benet Slay, was quoted as saying: “Each company had to make serious decisions about how to support this and we realised it needed something that stood above the brand work.”
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the Society of Independent Brewers and the British Beer & Pub Association are also on board, although they are understood not to have contributed funds at this stage.
The move was inspired by a decade-long generic beer campaign in Spain, which saw the category return to growth.
Its success in the UK, however, will be measured not just in terms of sales but primarily in terms of consumers’ views of the category.
You can watch the TV ad at www.youtube.com/watch?v=na2S8Y_sNi4&feature=youtu.be.
