A Trojan buck in Milan – what is this all about?

Italy | Since 22 April 2021, a gigantic wooden goat dominates Milan’s modern Piazza Gae Aulenti. It is impossible not to see it, considering it stands 14 metres tall. Few people will be aware that the statue, which actually looks like a Trojan Horse, albeit with horns, has been embroiled in a billboard battle between AB-InBev and Asahi.

Olda, this is the name of the animal, is actually the protagonist in a guerrilla marketing campaign by Asahi to mark the launch of Czech beer brand Kozel in Italy. The beer, which takes its name from a goat (Kozel in Czech means goat), was born in 1874 in Velké Popovice in the Czech Republic.

With 4.5 million hl sold in 48 countries already, the Czech brand now hopes to take on Italy with two beers, a lager and a dark lager. Kozel is owned by Asahi, since the Japanese brewer spent USD 7.8 billion to buy SABMiller’s central and eastern European unit from AB-InBev in 2016. Asahi seeks to turn Kozel into one of its leading brands. In Italy it will be brewed by Peroni, Asahi’s local unit, which is ranked second behind Heineken.

Billboard battle

So far, so tongue in cheek, were it not for the fact that in the same square, right in front of the goat, a huge billboard has since appeared. It shows a bottle of the Italian lager brand, Lisa, and a catchphrase: “Only a goat wouldn’t understand how good Italian beer is.” The billboard is signed by Birra del Borgo, one of the more popular Italian craft beer brands, which was bought by AB-InBev in 2016.

AB-InBev, which ranks third-largest brewer in Italy (although it mainly acts as an importer), must have got wind of Asahi’s plan and responded in kind. What Heineken, the market leader, thinks of all this, we do not know.

Called the Trojan Buck by its Czech designers, a smaller version of the statue (at 7 metres in height and 5 tons in weight) was first revealed in 2014. The goat, which can double as an outdoor bar, has since been on display at several roadshows organised by Asahi across Europe and beyond. The Czechs made three specimens, one of which has found a permanent home at the Kozel brewery in Velké Popovice.

Creating demand for Czech imports

Italy’s beer market is awash in imported beers. Asahi hopes to boost the Czech beer segment (75,000 hl), which had a market share of 1 percent of Italy’s imported beer segment in 2019, per data by Assobirra, an industry body. Belgian, German and Dutch beers dominate the import segment with a combined share of nearly 70 percent. Even Poland exports more beer to Italy (470,000) than the Czech Republic.

Asahi is planning to spend big on Kozel this year. The brand will also be advertised on TV from May until mid-June.