Selling out the homeland

 
Breweries Just in time for the takeover of the Eichhof brewery by Heineken, Adcom has launched an initiative for local beer from Baar. 
The "sell-out of the homeland" is taking place in various areas. One aspect is certainly the concentration process in the Swiss beer market. The traditional and very successful Eichhof brewery in Lucerne is currently being taken under the wing of the international Heineken Group. This means that one of the last major independent breweries is disappearing. Eichhof still has an 8 percent market share in Switzerland. Heineken now wants to take over Eichhof for 290 million Swiss francs in order to strengthen its position as number 2 in the Swiss beer market. Eight years after their merger, the Carlsberg-Feldschlösschen Group is thus to be attacked even more broadly. When "the incorporation" of Eichhof in Central Switzerland became known, the advertising agency Adcom in Baar reacted immediately and launched an initiative with its long-standing client Brauerei Baar. "The sometimes violent waves and reactions in Central Switzerland from the public, innkeepers and, above all, retailers show that the public is having a hard time with this development and this takeover," explains Gide Kuhn, who has overall responsibility at Adcom. Eichhof belongs to Central Switzerland like the Rigi or the Matterhorn belong to Switzerland. This is why the traditional, independent and innovative brewery in Baar, owned by Kurt Uster, has decided to show that there is still a "real piece of home" in the beer market.
Together with the client and marketing manager Martin Uster, Adcom has now addressed the "sell-out of the homeland" and developed a combative campaign. The posters are now on display in the Lucerne-Nidwalden-Zug-Knonauer Amt region. The concept of the campaign is tongue-in-cheek, sympathetic, confident and funny, but not aggressive and also "not a slam dunk", as Kuhn says, with a view to the "Eichhof" situation. The message on the poster is intended as a small consolation for the badly battered Eichhof beer drinkers - with the clear indication that there is still a real alternative to Eichhof beer. "The message on the poster is based on the knowledge and realization that the Swiss also like to drink a real Swiss beer, that they appreciate it and that they value local production," says Chief Communication Officer Eric Hasler at Adcom.
The campaign was launched on the day of the extraordinary Eichhof AGM, at which the takeover by Heineken was approved by the shareholders. A poster was prominently displayed on the way to the shareholders' meeting in Lucerne's KKL. It was no longer of any use
 
Andreas Panzeri