Fata beer gana
Contexta awakens the thirsty senses for Schlossgold with yellow-and-white hallucinations
Contexta awakens thirsty senses for Schlossgold with yellow and white hallucinationsBy Luca Aloisi In "Mirages," Contexta makes people thirsty for the alcohol-free Schlossgold. The fact that it is simultaneously strengthening the image of Feldschlösschen, the largest national brand, is the intention of the new marketing manager Fred Haferkamp, who wants to expand the lead position of the Rheinfeld beer brewer with the clear competitive strategy.
In 2001, 57.2 liters of barley juice were still drunk per capita in Switzerland, 14 liters or 19.4 percent less than ten years earlier. This is a trend that affects all traditional beer countries. It documents changes in lifestyle and drinking habits.
Breweries are responding to these with various strategies: production cutbacks, the introduction of low-price brands on the one hand and higher-margin premium beers on the other, and above all structural streamlining. The latter, encouraged by international takeovers, has intensified competition for the ever-shrinking Swiss beer keg. The emergence of new home breweries and microbreweries gives the industry new hope, because such microbrews make beer trendy and interesting again, especially among young people. Fred Haferkamp has identified the big danger in the fact that beer has lost its appeal among young people and is losing newcomers to other beverages. "That's why we have to get out of the very conservative corner."
The market leader wants to grow further
In this difficult environment, Feldschlösschen Brewery, which is part of the Carlsberg Group, held up well: it maintained sales at the previous year's level and once again placed Feldschlösschen as market leader and Cardinal as the second strongest brand. But that is not enough for the German marketing manager. He has set himself growth targets for market volume and share. "We clearly want to displace and continue to grow from a position of strength" says Haferkamp. He draws parallels with global market leader Budweiser. Ten years ago, the 150-year-old brewery in St. Louis also set itself growth targets, even though it was already the market leader. With aggressive targets, it had succeeded in "pushing Miller, the number two in the U.S. market, to the wall." And he knows the market, having previously worked for Holsten, Germany's largest brewery group, where he was responsible for the product portfolio in international marketing. Haferkamp: "My goal is to set a few landmarks with the appearance."
The potential in the non-alcoholic segment is small, but...
To this end, the government-imposed challenge of lower alcohol limits does not seem to come at a bad time. An opportunity for the hitherto relatively small segment of non-alcoholic beers (around 3% market share), one would think. But the fact is that the submarket in Switzerland has been stable for several years and is showing signs of saturation. In other words, it's not a promising submarket for making new customers thirsty with voluminous campaigns.
But Feldschlösschen pours in a sparkling new campaign here of all places, with high media and creative pressure - five TV spots. The fact that so much is being invested in a relevant but not particularly attractive market is striking. The continuous market share gain of Feldschlösschen Schlossgold at the expense of the leader Clausthaler and the imminent tightening of the law, which is likely to increase the zero-alcohol market, only partly explain the imposing advertising expenditure.
The new Feldschlösschen advertising strategy with high TV use seems to turn the industry's usual media mix on its head. According to Media Focus, breweries spent only 6 percent of their advertising budget on TV advertising in 2001, a fraction compared to newspapers (38%), magazines (16%) and billboards (38%). The fact that Haferkamp plans to continue to increase spending slightly also suggests a longer-term increase in the value of the brand. Whereas the beer industry as a whole was more conspicuous for its cyclical and anxious behavior in 2001 (7% less advertising expenditure than in 2000), Haferkamp stands out with its anti-cyclical advertising behavior.
From the spot series can also profile the umbrella brand
The solution to the riddle lies in the Schlossgold positioning, which corresponds to that of the umbrella brand. In combination with the TV commercials and based on the same hallucination idea, the campaign for the alcoholic Feldschlösschen original is running on posters and in print. A mutual image promotion is obvious.
The idea behind the advertising campaign is a witty further development of the brand essence "Feldschlösschen - the reward beer" introduced five years ago. Whereas previously the protagonists had to wait until the next fresh beer, now the tingling anticipation of hops and malt is visually translated. In the process, everyday things are transformed associatively into an omnipresent promise of reward - a carton of beer.
In one spot, construction workers have the crane operator lift a yellow concrete mixer kettle in front of a cloud. With dry lips and an empty gulp, it becomes clear what they are looking forward to. Even the exhausted athlete on the fitness machine not only notices the naked woman hanging yellow bedclothes out of the window and, startled, pulls down the white blind. Rather, he is already thinking about the cooling blonde. A beautiful scene of pouring the dreamed-of beer is followed by the resolution in the claim "Life makes you thirsty! With the pointed, humorous feel and look of the campaign, Contexta could succeed in leading market leader Feldschlösschen to a more modern image.
AD Rating
In 2001, 57.2 liters of barley juice were still drunk per capita in Switzerland, 14 liters or 19.4 percent less than ten years earlier. This is a trend that affects all traditional beer countries. It documents changes in lifestyle and drinking habits.
Breweries are responding to these with various strategies: production cutbacks, the introduction of low-price brands on the one hand and higher-margin premium beers on the other, and above all structural streamlining. The latter, encouraged by international takeovers, has intensified competition for the ever-shrinking Swiss beer keg. The emergence of new home breweries and microbreweries gives the industry new hope, because such microbrews make beer trendy and interesting again, especially among young people. Fred Haferkamp has identified the big danger in the fact that beer has lost its appeal among young people and is losing newcomers to other beverages. "That's why we have to get out of the very conservative corner."
The market leader wants to grow further
In this difficult environment, Feldschlösschen Brewery, which is part of the Carlsberg Group, held up well: it maintained sales at the previous year's level and once again placed Feldschlösschen as market leader and Cardinal as the second strongest brand. But that is not enough for the German marketing manager. He has set himself growth targets for market volume and share. "We clearly want to displace and continue to grow from a position of strength" says Haferkamp. He draws parallels with global market leader Budweiser. Ten years ago, the 150-year-old brewery in St. Louis also set itself growth targets, even though it was already the market leader. With aggressive targets, it had succeeded in "pushing Miller, the number two in the U.S. market, to the wall." And he knows the market, having previously worked for Holsten, Germany's largest brewery group, where he was responsible for the product portfolio in international marketing. Haferkamp: "My goal is to set a few landmarks with the appearance."
The potential in the non-alcoholic segment is small, but...
To this end, the government-imposed challenge of lower alcohol limits does not seem to come at a bad time. An opportunity for the hitherto relatively small segment of non-alcoholic beers (around 3% market share), one would think. But the fact is that the submarket in Switzerland has been stable for several years and is showing signs of saturation. In other words, it's not a promising submarket for making new customers thirsty with voluminous campaigns.
But Feldschlösschen pours in a sparkling new campaign here of all places, with high media and creative pressure - five TV spots. The fact that so much is being invested in a relevant but not particularly attractive market is striking. The continuous market share gain of Feldschlösschen Schlossgold at the expense of the leader Clausthaler and the imminent tightening of the law, which is likely to increase the zero-alcohol market, only partly explain the imposing advertising expenditure.
The new Feldschlösschen advertising strategy with high TV use seems to turn the industry's usual media mix on its head. According to Media Focus, breweries spent only 6 percent of their advertising budget on TV advertising in 2001, a fraction compared to newspapers (38%), magazines (16%) and billboards (38%). The fact that Haferkamp plans to continue to increase spending slightly also suggests a longer-term increase in the value of the brand. Whereas the beer industry as a whole was more conspicuous for its cyclical and anxious behavior in 2001 (7% less advertising expenditure than in 2000), Haferkamp stands out with its anti-cyclical advertising behavior.
From the spot series can also profile the umbrella brand
The solution to the riddle lies in the Schlossgold positioning, which corresponds to that of the umbrella brand. In combination with the TV commercials and based on the same hallucination idea, the campaign for the alcoholic Feldschlösschen original is running on posters and in print. A mutual image promotion is obvious.
The idea behind the advertising campaign is a witty further development of the brand essence "Feldschlösschen - the reward beer" introduced five years ago. Whereas previously the protagonists had to wait until the next fresh beer, now the tingling anticipation of hops and malt is visually translated. In the process, everyday things are transformed associatively into an omnipresent promise of reward - a carton of beer.
In one spot, construction workers have the crane operator lift a yellow concrete mixer kettle in front of a cloud. With dry lips and an empty gulp, it becomes clear what they are looking forward to. Even the exhausted athlete on the fitness machine not only notices the naked woman hanging yellow bedclothes out of the window and, startled, pulls down the white blind. Rather, he is already thinking about the cooling blonde. A beautiful scene of pouring the dreamed-of beer is followed by the resolution in the claim "Life makes you thirsty! With the pointed, humorous feel and look of the campaign, Contexta could succeed in leading market leader Feldschlösschen to a more modern image.
AD Rating
Castle Gold Campaign
That was overcooked, meat lovers. The only thing that helps is a beer to wash down the anger about the Proviande campaign. Let's hope the barley juice doesn't taste too stale. Judge for yourself at www. werbewoche.ch/adrating
Proviande campaignTop: 37,96%
Flop: 62,04%L Praise and blame of ad-raters summarized on www.werbewoche.ch/adrating/comments
