Fancy a beer? It is not all about the taste…

In France, according to an IFOP survey in 2012, 69% of people over 18 say they consume beer. With a total population of 49.8 million over 18, the potential market represents no less than 34.4 million people. Question is: what are the key drivers for these potential customers when choosing to have a beer? How can brands can manage to have them choosing their product over another one? These are the main points we will be focusing on today.

First of all, the major driver when it comes to drinking beer is the social meaning of this act. Indeed, people asked say that beer is convivial, great to share with colleagues and is ideal to take time at a terrace. Based on this information, brands have made big efforts to reinforce this image of conviviality.

Another thing about social meaning is the self-image a consumer has when drinking a beer. Depending on what type of beer you are drinking or on the occasion (after-work with colleagues, at home while watching TV…), you have a certain image of yourself. For example, Guinness is known for having a unique taste and colour. The image of a Guinness consumer is one of a strong and grown man who has a fine taste.

Then, the notion of pleasure is highly promoted. Since beer is a drink, people would tend to look for the best taste. That is why brands are largely promoting the greatness of their product’s taste. It can also be one way of positioning, especially with “Bières d’Abbaye” such as Grimbergen or Leffe.

Afterwards, the others drives are the packaging and more specifically the colour of the brand. These elements help consumer to make their choice quickly. Green is related to Heineken or Carlsberg, red is related to Kronenbourg, brown corresponds to “Bières d’Abbaye”… In terms of positioning, the choice of a colour or packaging really matters. For example, the Kronenbourg unscrewed cap is a major detail because it is easier to use than the other beers which require a bottle-opener.

Finally, humour and fun are highlighted when it comes to beer. Since this is a product with a positive and convivial image, brands use very largely humour in their ads. By doing that, they increase the positive image towards consumers and, with a very good and funny advert, a brand can become really trendy. The video that follows is a commercial made by Guinness. In this video, Guinness assumes its image of masculinity with humour:

Sources: 

http://www.ifop.com/media/poll/2064-1-study_file.pdf

http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/detail.asp?ref_id=bilan-demo&reg_id=0&page=donnees-detaillees/bilan-demo/pop_age2.htm

The French beer market: an innovative market?

As we saw in the previous article, the French beer market is really decreasing (-3% in 2013 according to Les Echo’s). That’s why; many producers such as Kronenbourg or Heineken invest lot of money in their innovative sector in order to be more attractive and to offer a wide range of product. How these two leaders carry on staying attractive in this hard market? What are their strategies? What are their competitors? Customers, are they receptive? Such amount of questions we will try to answer in this article.

First of all, we can note that their targets are completely different. Indeed, Kronenbourg embodies the image of cheap beer (however, not like the 86 brand) so their client are overall young people and people of more than 35 years: “Even if we address all the age brackets, we are better in two populations, grants Fabien Duvilla, director of the brand Kronenbourg. At the young people who adopt a festive consumption and at the men of more than 35 years, consumer with incomes means”. Popular drink, Kronenbourg is in being the image of the French market: people in the average and modest incomes consume 70% of the beer volumes. However, Heinekens attracts above all the small consumer’s, the urban, the women and the South of France where the culture of beer is non-existent. This concentration highlights a real willing, strategy of Heineken: “The regular consumption in the traditional regions of the North and from the east of France tends to decrease while the beer is developing in the South”, according to Cyril Charzat Marketing Director in Heineken. We can note these differences between these two brands in their packaging. Kronenbourg seems to have a non-relevant packaging for his best seller whereas Heineken develops more sensual and more attractive for the women for example. 

Moreover, since a few years, these two leaders develop more and more innovative beer in order to be more attractive. For example, Kronenbourg develops a “fruity” beer. Kronenbourg tries hard to adapt himself to a market in profound transformation with funny/pop packaging. If trendy beer (Skoll) and of abbey (Grimbergen) continues to gain ground, carried by the rise in the range of the market, classic beers, them, take a nose dive (7,7%). And it is true for several years. "Kro" is the first victim with a declining market share (0,7) even if it keeps its leader's place in this category. 

On its side, Heineken enhances several tastes for its Desperados Brand but it does not create a fruity with its brand Heineken.

Finally; customers seems really to appreciate this new kind of consumption. Indeed, five months only after its launch in mass-market retailing, K by Kronenbourg detains 0,3 point of market shares Volume. It already occupies 5% of the segment of beers trends. Around 270 000 homes were convinced by the fresh and fruity taste, an identical score as Skoll score (according to Kronenbourg site).

The Beer Market: global overview of a dynamic and giant market

38 litres a year: this is the average beer consumption of a French individual, way behind Czech people who hold the highest consumption in the world with 160 litres a year. In store, we, as consumers, can notice how important this market is by the diversity of brands and types of beer which are proposed to us. Highly competitive, the beer market is the second market of drinks behind the tea market and is the scene where fight a few but very big international companies. Constantly in search for more market shares, these MNCs display a lot of different methods from big scale communication campaigns of their respective brands to important strategic decisions such as the recent acquisition of the Korean leader Oriental brewery by the leader Anheuser-Busch InBev. Although the market is weakening in Western Europe, the size of the brewery market is still growing and should reach 217 billion litres in 2016, partly due to the Asian market progression.

Regarding this blog, we will focus on the French market which is, geographically speaking, the closest to us. In France, beer is mainly sold through Mass Market (70%), and a small part concerns out-of-home consumption (restaurants, bars, etc.). The French market represents a challenging situation for brands as it is declining since a couple of years. Brands must then stretch their imagination to offer a wider range of products, innovate, and differentiate their communication strategy toward their consumers in order to re-galvanize the market and therefore, stole market shares from their competitors. Obviously, the trend has been to offer new kind of beers with different flavours and mixed with other alcohol. Best examples being Desperados and Skoll, each of the innovations coming with its own positioning and universe. To satisfy the French consumer which is always more demanding, brands are offering more sophisticated products and invest more money into communication and marketing. This market is therefore more challenging for managers that need to focus on how to stand out against competitive brands which will consist on anticipating each one’s moves, reply to huge advertising campaigns and put the final consumers on the centre of their reflexions.