Beck's is back in £12m promotion

A £12million advertising push by Scottish Courage (ScotCo) sees premium lager brand Beck's returning to the UK's television screens this week.

The new ad campaign will spearhead the biggest promotional drive yet for Beck's, which is the UK's biggest imported beer brand, with a 14 per cent share of the on-trade's premium packaged lager market.

ScotCo brands director for premium lagers Maurice Breen described the new campaign as a milestone - Beck's was last advertised on national TV more than five years ago.

"This forms a key element in a brand re-positioning exercise designed to further fuel awareness for an already popular iconic beer brand," he said.

"The task for the new advertising is to retain the elements of a 'discovery' brand while reinvigorating Beck's to make it more responsive to consumer needs."

The ads, created by agency Mountain View, use a variety of images aimed at illustrating the confident, uncomplicated, all-natural brand proposition of Beck's. They will be shown on ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and satellite TV.

Breen described 1999 as "the most significant year yet in the marketing history of Beck's".

He said this would also include arts sponsorship and a heavyweight PR campaign aimed at highlighting the relevance of Beck's to both consumers and trade customers.

Beck's has been brewed in Bremen, Germany, since 1553 and is not produced anywhere else. It is exported to 120 countries worldwide, with total global sales of 3,000 bottles per minute.