Stella Artois Master of the Draught but not quite the supermarket
Stella Artois completed a major global marketing initiative in New York recently with the crowning of the 2009 World Draught Master from competing bartenders from 26 countries.
By Glynn Davis
Such a glossy event sought to highlight and strengthen the premium positioning that the product enjoys in many markets around the world.
The UK entrant Will Maltby lost out in the first round of the final, having won through from the domestic heat in Britain, with the overall winner Avril Maxwell coming from New Zealand. The competition was run largely as a marketing initiative to communicate with the pub and bar industry (on-trade) rather than the retail sector (off-trade) with the focus of the event on the 9-step pouring ritual devised for Stella Artois.
In the UK such reinforcement of the brand’s “reassuringly expensive” position is increasingly important as it continues to be the target of aggressive promotion by the major supermarkets. Jorn Socquet, global brand director for Stella Artois, admits that it is a “frustration as we’d like to see higher prices” but then he also regards it also as something of a compliment to the product as it is used so frequently as a brand to drive sales within the large grocery chains.
Unlike many countries that had competitors entered in the 2009 World Draught Master tournament, the UK is a much more mature market for Stella and rather than building the brand the focus of local marketing has shifted towards things like a focus on the environment.
Socquet says the company developed a completely recyclable 12-pack and a 24-pack that was compostable and there has also been a move to using recycled aluminium and glass. “We will step up the eco-friendly bit as the UK is more pioneering in this aspect,” he adds.
This must have been working as Socquet says Stella Artois sales have recently risen for the first time in five years. He attributes this partly down to the success of the launch of 4% in 2008, which is only available in the UK.
“Cannibalisation is low as it is for a different occasion so 4% has reached new consumers. We believe it has also helped the 5% product because we’re selling the same brand and we want to build the Stella Artois brand. It is just like BMW selling different models of car,” he explains.
