E-Malt.com News article: United Kingdom: Foster’s beer ads to stress Australian heritage

Australia’s largest brewer Foster’s is to launch a promotion campaign in the UK highlighting the brand’s Australian heritage, Marketing Magazine posted on June, 9.

A multimillion-pound campaign, which will span TV, cinema and radio, as well as digital and CRM activity, will introduce the strapline 'Get some Australian in you'.

The campaign, created by M&C Saatchi, will launch with two 40-second TV executions that break next week.

The ads show characters in stressful situations to which they respond in a laid-back 'Australian' fashion.

Owner Scottish & Newcastle claims that 60% of Foster's 18- to 34-year-old target market will see the ads more than three times in the first seven weeks.

Foster's brand manager, Natalie Clearie, said the positioning was adopted in an attempt to differentiate the lager from its competitors.

'We've talked about chilled beer, but now everybody else has caught up,' she added.

Foster's has run ads emphasising that the lager is brewed to be enjoyed cold since 2004. The first in the series featured a man getting his hair styled into an oversized quiff to ensure that his pint would stay in the shade at a barbecue.

Last year, the bulk of Fosters' marketing budget was spent on promoting its 'in-can Scuba' variant, which contains a widget designed to make the lager taste like a freshly-pulled pint.

Clearie claimed the brand's internal research showed that 'people yearn to reconnect with a stress-free world'.

Foster's is also running a promotion called 'Game on' that links the beer to a range of gaming activities. It will run in more than 10,000 pubs and clubs and on 133m cans of the lager.

Separately, AB InBev announced last week that it will no longer distribute Australian lager Castlemaine XXXX. Lion Nathan, the brand's owner, said that 'maintaining a varied brand positioning in different markets was not in the best interests of the XXXX brand'.


10 June, 2009