The pint with punch
Despite licensee criticism, the success of leading lager Stella Artois shows no sign of slowing.
Two weeks ago brewing giant Interbrew won the award for Marketing Achievement at the Marketing Society awards at Grosvenor House in London. So impressed were the judges by Interbrew that it went through to the shortlist for the final award of the evening, the prestigious Grand Prix, which is the equivalent to "the best winner of the night".
Up against the best of the marketing world, including the recent 118 118 directory enquiries campaign and the BBC's Freeview campaign, Interbrew managed to win. This was largely as a result of Interbrew's long-running "Reassuringly Expensive" campaign for Stella Artois.
This may grate with many licensees. There has been a lot of criticism of Stella Artois in the licensed trade with publicans saying it betrays its premium image when in fact you can get it anywhere, including supermarkets at ridiculously cheap prices.
Phil Rumbol, marketing manager for Interbrew UK, told The Publican that Stella is in more pubs than any other draught lager. Plus look at cans of Stella in any supermarket and you will find they are massively discounted compared with the on-trade.
However, every premium lager without exception is being massively discounted in supermarkets. It is a problem for the whole category, not just Interbrew.
Last week Interbrew launched the latest advert in its "Reassuringly Expensive" campaign. The Publican was the first publication to see it and after being given a history of the campaign and the adverts put together by the brewer and advertising agency Lowes it became clear that a lot of the criticism Interbrew receives regarding Stella is not deserved. The campaign has run for 12 years and in that time Interbrew has not abandoned its core brand values. Its advertising has not dumbed down, encouraged "binge-drinking" or to use a buzzword of a year ago, been "sexed up".
Matt Edwards from ad agency Lowes explains: "Our ads really stand out. Most other beer campaigns are set in urban locations using male models and are short and snappy. Our ads are set in rural towns, with sometimes odd-looking actors and are longer - the new ad is two minutes long."
When the first "Reassuringly Expensive" Stella Artois advert launched in 1992 it was different from anything else out there. Phil Rumbol defines this by saying that it had a "film-like" quality and all the subsequent adverts have kept this. They are not shot in brash colour and some are quite grainy and moody. For example, the last ad, called "Devil's Island", had a grey colour to fit with the depressing surrounding, while the new advert was shot in black and white.
The list of directors that Interbrew has been able to hire reads like a who's who of television advertising. "There is a virtuous circle. Because we have a brand that is so committed to quality it means we can get the best directors," says Matt.
"Frank Budgen is one of the three most in demand directors in the world - he has shot ads for Levis for example, and we have had Jonathan Glaser, who directed the British film Sexy Beast. It is great for us because these are guys who are at a level where they can pick and choose their scripts."
It is clear that these directors can then give something more to the adverts than the usual "crash, bang wallop followed by cleavage shot" that is often the case in beer advertising. "These directors are good enough to tell a story and tell it to British audiences when the dialogue is in French. This means they can get the best out of the actors, get them to be subtle in their performances without hamming it up," adds Matt.
Phil believes this commitment to quality in advertising is crucial to the brand. He said: "Beer advertisements have a licence to entertain and engage and it's about the quality of the product but also the image, which is why we approach the ads in a clever, sophisticated way. It is about building affinity to the brand."
And Phil argues that sticking to the premium strategy is the prime reason for the brand's massive success. "Each advert we produce is having more impact than the last," he said.
"We have carried out a tracking study, which showed that Stella Artois has the highest scores on aspirational image and desirability. This research has showed that if you put Stella next to another premium lager on a bar and priced them at exactly the same level, then 69 per cent of consumers would pick Stella.
"The awards we received acknowledged the truly cross-functional contribution that has been made to building 'the lager of supreme quality and worth' and making Stella Artois an outstanding example of how to build a powerful brand."
Pictured: Stella's new advert in production.
