Pride in Stella Artois

Spend an hour in the company of Stuart MacFarlane and you might, like me, start to believe that if you sliced his arm open with a knife he would actually bleed Stella Artois.

If you wish to test the loyalty of the new president of InBev UK then just try and question the future of the brand. My insinuation that InBev UK is somehow embarrassed by Stella Artois, so far has its image and perception fallen in the last 10 years, has not gone down well. I suggest that the Brasserie Artois font (where Stella is lined up with other Artois beer brands) was an attempt by InBev to almost 'hide' the Stella brand on the bar.

He is having none of it. "I am extremely proud of the Stella Artois brand name and product and I am not ashamed of it at all. To be honest, working for Stella Artois is what gets me out of bed in the morning and it's why I still work here," he says.

"Some of the negative press we have got can be hurtful but it is my job to bring pride to the brand and the business."

Well, that's me told then. But I would argue it is fair comment. Stella has received a lot of bad press recently - ranging from "death of Stella" pieces in the national media, to a trade ruck over the delisting of the brand in the Young's Pub Company estate in January.

And I'm not alone in the view that Stella is on its last legs in the pub trade, weighed down and damaged by years of discounting in the off-trade.But this is not something that MacFarlane buys into. "I am staggered it is getting that flak," he says. "From where I am sitting I don't think the brand has gone wrong."

But what about the endless criticism over supermarket discounting?

He points out that Stella Artois sits fourth in the list of most discounted brands in the off-trade. Nielsen statistics show that Stella was, on average, sold at a 40 per cent premium to Carlsberg throughout 2007, a 31 per cent premium to Carling and a 28 per cent premium to Foster's.

A victim of its own success?

In many ways, he argues, Stella is a victim of its own success, seen by multiple retailers as the ultimate footfall driver. "The retailers recognise brand power and they realise they can really drive footfall using that brand," he says. Well what about the 'wife beater' moniker? That cannot be blamed on retailers or any press campaigns. That unfortunate nickname has grown up through word of mouth among consumers.

MacFarlane is completely defiant on this. "The 'wife beater' association is irresponsible and, to be honest, offensive.

"We are well aware of it in the business but to be honest what we need to do is focus on where we are going with the brand and we have to project the positive associations. The brand is about heritage, craftsmanship and respect," he says.

In many ways I completely admire his attitude - for several years now Interbrew and then InBev's attitude towards the problems Stella faced was to close the door to questions from journalists. The new UK president is determined, it seems, to meet them head on.

It has been 10 weeks since MacFarlane took on the role of UK president - a job Macfarlane quite openly admits was a dream opportunity for him.

He has been with the company for 17 years in its many different guises, as Whitbread, Interbrew and finally InBev. It is perhaps rotten luck for him that he has landed the top job right in the middle of the worst period of sales decline in beer for decades. But while he openly admits there are problems he believes it is not as black a picture out there as some would have us believe.

"We are enduring tough times - the credit crunch is definitely hitting," he says. "But I wouldn't paint a doomsday scenario like some in the trade have been doing recently.

"In times of recession - and I believe we're about to enter one - beer and pubs tend to stack up much better than other parts of the leisure market.

"Holidays are always the first to go and even things like trips to the cinema get cut back. People are much less reluctant to stop going to the pub."

Core focus

He feels that it is the role of a producer in the brewing market to "influence its core sphere" by coming up with an FMCG outlook. This may sound jargon heavy - but it's an interesting point.

"If you look at the top FMCG companies [like Nestlé and Procter & Gamble] they are all providing their retail customers with data and information to help grow sales - not just of their brands, but of the whole category to help maintain the health of the sector. This is what I want to be doing with InBev and pubs."

To that end MacFarlane has launched an internal programme called "on-trade rejuvenation" where he is getting all of his on-trade teams to come up with ideas on how to take back the momentum from coffee shops which he believes have stolen a march on pubs in terms of quality of service.

Since the merger of Interbrew and Ambev in 2004 to form InBev there has been a revolving door of top brass at InBev UK. Colin Pedrick lasted 10 months, while Richard Evans lasted 18 months until February this year.

Does MacFarlane see himself under serious pressure from InBev chief executive Carlos Brito to deliver results in 12 months time?

"I've not got a timescale to this job. I've agreed a road map with the board. But I do not feel intense pressure regarding delivery," he says. "InBev is a results-based organisation, and we make no apology for that. I just have to get that balance between long-term plans and short-term results."

There is no doubting MacFarlane's passion. But his success will surely depend on some patience from his taskmasters in Belgium - to give him the time to achieve his stated aims. Over to you Mr Brito.