UK is facing charge of the light brigade

First it was Bud Light, now Coors Light is set for trials in the UK.

But while Anheuser-Busch chose Manchester for its dummy run, Coors is focusing on Scotland, and the centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh in particular.

Bud Light began a national roll-out at the beginning of March following a successful test. The move is being backed by a £4million marketing spend.

Marketing manager Kerry Bébe said: "We are distributing nationally but with an urban focus. Our target customers are 18 to 35-year-old adults with a primary target of 18 to 24-year-old males."

She said the Manchester test and the ads used had received very positive feedback from the target audience so a similar ad campaign focusing on the low calorie aspect of the beer will be used nationally.

Ads will be appearing in male style press and on a number of outdoor sites including London Underground.

Coors has decided not to use the low calorie angle for its Scottish launch and is running a campaign under the strapline "Keep the lights on" which aims to emphasise the refreshing nature of the beer, making it suitable as a session drink.

Coors is spending £1.2million in Scotland alone and this includes TV ads and an outdoor campaign which will also concentrate on using sites near bars stocking the product.

Coors has chosen Scotland to test Coors Light due to its highly developed premium packaged lager market and the ease of controlling the test. If the results are positive, the brand will be rolled out nationally.

Bébe sees the Coors Light launch as a positive move which will help grow the category as a whole. In the United States, three of the top four beers are light beers, but Bébe points out that Bud Light was launched there in 1982 and took some time to get to its current level.

"Today's UK consumer is far more aware of trends and products in the United States," she said. "Bud Light had an awareness of 57 per cent in the UK before we even launched it here."