Posts Tagged ‘beer’

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Brewers Go Courting Hispanics

July 15th, 2011 | Author:
Bilingual Cartons and a Cuban-American Rapper Figure in Beer Makers’ Plans to Tap Growing Market
Source: WSJ
By DAVID KESMODEL
Jul 12th
The world’s brewing giants, struggling to eke out growth in the sluggish U.S. market, are stepping up their courtship of the country’s Hispanics.
This summer, MillerCoors is rolling out bilingual packaging in the U.S., adding Spanish to the cartons that hold bottles or cans of its Coors Light and Miller Lite brands. It is also sponsoring a Mexican soccer league.
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, which says its Bud Light and Budweiser are the top-selling brews among Hispanics in the U.S., is increasing its spending on ads in Spanish-language media. And it has struck a deal for Bud Light to sponsor Cuban-American rapper Pitbull’s fall concert tour.
Meanwhile, companies like Heineken NV and Crown Imports LLC, which import popular Mexican lagers, are churning out new ads they hope will extend their brands’ appeal to a broader Hispanic market.
The scramble comes as the U.S. beer industry appears to be headed for a third-straight year of declining sales volume, in part because high unemployment has damped the spending power of its core customers-men ages 21 to 34.
But the rivalry also reflects the long-term importance of Hispanic consumers. By 2030, Hispanics will account for 23% of the nation’s legal-drinking-age population, up from 16% in 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau forecasts. According to surveys by Crown Imports-whose brands include Corona Extra, the top-selling imported beer in the U.S.-Hispanics also tend to consume more beer on occasions when they drink than do non-Hispanics.
The main challenge brewers will face in wooing Hispanics is creating ads that feel authentic to them, says Juan Tornoe, a partner with Cultural Strategies Inc., an Austin, Texas, firm that specializes in multicultural marketing. The quality of beer ads aimed at Hispanics has varied widely over the years, he says.
In 2004, the Mexican import Tecate touched off a controversy with a billboard that showed a bottle of the brew with the tagline, “Finally, a Cold Latina.” Tecate, then imported by a Belgian-Mexican venture, pulled the ad after some Hispanic consumers complained it branded all Latin women as hot-blooded sex symbols. “The most important thing to do is not stereotype and to take into consideration the culture,” says Mr. Tornoe.
Crown Imports, whose brands include the fast-growing No. 3 import Modelo Especial, is crafting distinct campaigns for each of its Mexican brands, seeking to minimize any overlap in consumers’ minds, says Bill Hackett, president of Crown, which is co-owned by Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SAB and U.S. wine-and-spirits maker Constellation Brands Inc.
Spanish- and English-language ads for Corona, for instance, highlight luxurious beach settings to underscore the brand’s premium status. By contrast, a new TV spot in Spanish for Modelo Especial features a middle-class young man named Mario hanging out with friends at a Los Angeles nightclub. At first glance, the voice-over says, Modelo Especial may seem like any other beer, just as Mario seems like just a normal guy. But Mario, it turns out, is an accomplished dancer, which he proves-to the amazement of his friends-by leading a waitress in the quebradita, a flamboyant, physically demanding Mexican-American dance.
Crown also is tailoring its products to suit special beer-drinking occasions such as family gatherings. The company recently introduced Corona Familiar-a 32-ounce bottled version of the brew-in a handful of states, including Arizona and California.
U.S.-based MillerCoors started a big push last year to promote its brews to Mexican soccer fans, signing a deal to make Coors Light the exclusive beer sponsor of Mexico’s Primera Division on U.S. television and other media. The second-largest U.S. brewer by sales is trying to swipe market share from the top seller, the American arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev. MillerCoors says its share among Hispanics is smaller than its overall market share of about 30%.
“It’s really important that we start making significant inroads,” said Al Patel, vice president of multicultural marketing at the Chicago company, a joint venture of London’s SABMiller PLC and U.S.-Canadian brewer Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, meanwhile, is hoping to expand its overall lead in the U.S., where it accounts for about 48% of all beer sales. This year the company plans its largest outlay ever on advertising in Hispanic media, said Dave Peacock, president of the company’s U.S. unit, in an interview. He declined to specify the amount.
The company spent about $60 million on ads in Hispanic media last year, up from $46 million in 2009, according to market-research firm Kantar Media.
Dutch brewer Heineken, the current importer of Tecate, is refocusing ads for the lower-priced Mexican brand, whose U.S. sales have declined in recent years. The brand traditionally has targeted first-generation Mexican-American men with blue-collar jobs, but it is taking broader aim in its new TV ads. The spots incorporate humor and celebrate interests that are popular across Latin cultures. One ad celebrates the caracter (character) of a man who vigorously salsa dances with several women at a party.
“We wanted to start tapping into the more acculturated Hispanic,” because much of the growth for Tecate will come from second- and third-generation Latinos in coming years, says Felix Palau, vice president for the Tecate brand at Heineken USA.Heineken also is promoting its flagship brand to Latinos. Starting this week it is sponsoring a three-week series of live concerts, art exhibits and film screenings in New York by Latino performers and artists, such as Puerto Rican rapper Tego Calderón.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: alcohol sales, beer | Comments Closed

The changing world of beer aficionados

October 28th, 2010 | Author:
Source: Herald Tribune
By KRISTINE NICKEL
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.

This Bud’s for you, guys. After all, guys love beer. It is overwhelmingly a male beverage, with men accounting for about 75 percent of the volume consumed. A large number of these beer drinkers are white and favor domestic light beer, followed by domestic draft beer.

Here’s where the foam gets murky, however. More women are converting to beer, trending to specialty beers. According to Beerfocus.com, some emerging trends are breathing new life into the beer industry.

The sale of beer to women is a growing market.

Women currently account for 25 percent of beer consumption in the United States.

Women between the ages of 21 and 30 are drinking more beer than women in other age groups.

Beer drinking among women in the 50-plus age group is on the increase, too, a fact that has not gone unnoticed among beer advertisers worldwide.

SWITCHING FROM WINE

Women beer drinkers are a discerning bunch. They seem to demand more of their beer: more flavor, more complexity, more fruitiness, fewer calories and lower carbs.

Much of this new-found popularity has come at the expense of wine. Take my daughter, for example. She received her first wine the year she was born. She can hold her own in any wine tasting, dishing out descriptors with the best of them and is a whiz at matching food and wine.

She now mainly drinks beer.

Read the full story here…

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Posted in Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol Sales | Tags: alcohol consumption, alcohol sales, beer, trend | Comments Closed

As 2011 Approaches, Booze Comes Back

October 18th, 2010 | Author:
Source: CNBC
Tuesday, 12 Oct 2010
As 2011 approaches, booze is back.
And that’s good news for the alcohol business, which is $188 billion strong.
Alcohol sales were once called recession-resistant. But the financial crisis hurt just about every segment of the consumer culture, so now, industry experts call it recession-resilient.
Trends are strong in wine and spirits, and even though the volume of beer sold is down, revenue is not off as much because of price increases.
A lot of Americans still choose to have a drink at home rather than go out, but even that trend is starting to shift.
“As the worst of the economic situation appears to be over, and confidence is returning, consumer traffic is up,” said Mike Ginley from Next Level Marketing.
“Most of the major restaurant chains are reporting same-store sales gains now, and that’s a very good sign going into 2011.”
At the US Drinks Conference in New York City, however, there is considerable disagreement over whether another trend continues: The trade-down.

Read the full story here.

Posted in Alcohol Sales | Tags: alcohol, alcohol consumption, alcoholic beverages, beer, drinking | Comments Closed

Important Role of America’s Beer Distributors and Effective Alcohol Regulation Highlighted at NBWA’s 73rd Annual Convention

October 5th, 2010 | Author:

Source: NBWA

Date: October 4, 2010

Day One Focuses on Industry Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

Today the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) kicked off the first full day of its 73rd Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

NBWA Chairman of the Board Mitch Watkins addressed the goals he laid out for 2010 including increasing the Association’s communications efforts, distributor participation in Association events as well as distributor education and outreach. He explained how education and outreach is vital to making sure that members of Congress, state regulators, attorneys general and the public are informed about the importance of state-based alcohol regulation.

Watkins also outlined the Association’s activities to address threats facing the state-based system of alcohol regulation, including advancing a distributor agenda and opposing ballot initiatives in Washington state. “This threat is real, it’s immediate, and make no mistake – the NBWA is fully engaged in the campaign to defeat this initiative. From the very start, NBWA has jumped in with both financial and subject matter expert support, and we’ll continue to assist the Protect our Communities campaign any way we can.”

NBWA President Craig Purser talked about the impact recent economic and political changes have had on the beer distribution industry. He also discussed ongoing challenges to America’s effective system of alcohol regulation, including the continued challenges to the system presented by litigation, deregulation by defunding state agencies and the latest and newest challenge – deregulation at the ballot box disguised as privatization.

Purser highlighted how the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act – which has 151 co-sponsors and is advancing through Congress – has already proven effective, stating, “It has highlighted the threat that states face from ongoing litigation. It has illuminated the fact that some would like to dramatically reduce a state’s ability to effectively regulate. And it is helping lawmakers understand the three-tier system and that all three tiers are independent for a reason. The system was set up so that separation between the tiers works for the public’s interest.”

James Hellman, President of Preferred Distributors, LLC, in Sparta, Wisconsin, moderated a panel of individuals interested in effective alcohol regulation entitled “The Great Masquerade: Deregulation Disguised as Privatization.” The panel focused on ballot initiatives that are being considered by voters in Washington state that would completely gut the state’s system of alcohol regulation. The panel included James Sgueo, President and CEO of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association; Jerry Oliver, former alcohol regulator and chief of police; Heather McClung, President of the Washington Brewers Guild; and Judy Cushing, President and CEO of the Oregon Partnership. Panelists addressed challenges that the public would face as a result of these proposals.

Following the General Session program, the Product Demonstration Showcase made a return appearance following its successful debut at the NBWA Annual Convention in 2008. The Showcase offered Convention attendees the opportunity to learn about new services and products from more than 100 different exhibitors. Some of the products on display included imported and domestic beer, non-alcoholic beverages, warehousing technology, fuel management systems, financial services software and promotional products.

NBWA’s 73rd Annual Convention continues Tuesday, October 5, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

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Posted in Alcohol Consumption, General Alcohol News, Uncategorized, Wisconsin Alcohol News | Tags: alcohol, alcohol laws, beer, Selling Alcohol | Comments Closed

Women standout as better beer tasters

July 17th, 2010 | Author:

More and more women are joining the field of beer tasting, and excelling at it. SABMiller, the brewer that makes Miller and Coors as well as Pilsner Urquell, Peroni and Grolsch, has said they have evidence that women are better at detecting undesirable chemicals in beer. Today 30% of SABMiller’s tasters are women. Research from a research institute in Philidelphia supports their claim, showing that women have a better sense of smell which is critical in identifying flavors in beer. Not all brewers agree. Carlsberg and Anheuser-Busch inBev have both stated that they do not believe there is a significant difference between men and women tasters.

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Posted in Wisconsin Alcohol News | Tags: alcohol, beer, beer taster, brewer, drinking, research, women | Comments Closed
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