Courage Best launches in Smooth

Courage Best has been launched in smooth format by Wells and Young's as part of a £2 million investment across the Courage portfolio.

As part of the spend, the Courage range, which includes Courage Best Bitter and Courage Directors, will be redesigned to feature a new logo that will be used across all formats. The investment will also involve the Courage brand being supported by a new advertising campaign, which is set to kick off at the beginning of next year as well as Directors being reintroduced in cans for the first time since Wells & Young's took on the brand last year.

Wells and Young's told Morning Advertiser: "Courage has not had a lot spent on it. We invested in the darts, but that's it. Despite that, Courage Best is the number three standard cask ale in the UK. People assumed Courage already was available in smooth flow, so we saw an opportunity and took it."

Wells & Young's director of marketing Chris Lewis added: "The smooth market is a massive on-trade segment with around 900,000 barrels being sold in the south of England alone. Courage Best Smooth represents a huge opportunity for us as there is no major smooth beer with a southern heartland, which gives Courage Best Smooth a major competitive advantage in this area."