Following the runaway success of the VB relaunch, Carlton United Brewers' top marketers, Richard Oppy and Vincent Ruiu, have flagged a major reinvestment in the company's beer brands, starting with Crown Lager and Cascade. There are some stories in the offing.
Cascade and Crown Lager are set for rebrands, with national ad campaigns and increased marketing investment to follow, which is good news for CUB agencies Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and MediaCom. What's more, Oppy has said the company is examining all of its “key brands”, perhaps hinting that other beer brands will be relaunched, although he wouldn't be drawn on such speculation.
The intense focus on relaunching multiple CUB beer brands has come in the wake of global beer giant SABMiller's purchase of all CUB beer assets in 2011. The acquisition came after CUB's owner Foster's Group demerged its wine business from its beer business.
Both Oppy and Ruiu admitted that before the demerger and acquisition, Foster's increasing range of wine and spirit brands had led to a decline in focus on several of the company's core beer brands.
“We lost our focus on key beer brands as we started diverting into wine and spirits,” Oppy said. “But with SABMiller buying CUB, there has been an increased focus on getting the beer brands right. SABMiller is all about beers and ciders, so these guys are putting beer back at the heart of the company.”
Meanwhile, Ruiu told AdNews: “History shows that the focus had changed, and everybody lost because of it, unfortunately. This new focus on our beer brands is a function of becoming a beer business again, it's a function of being a part of the world's second biggest brewer.”
Crown Lager's rebrand will be the first cab off the rank, followed by Cascade's. Oppy, who is general manager of marketing for VB and Crown Lager, said the relaunch of the brand involves new premium ingredients, new packaging and a major marketing push which will see a doubling of the Crown Lager's marketing investment.
He said two television commercials will hit the market on 24 August. “They will have a stylised look and feel. They will look very premium.”
The commercials are being shot this week, with creative handled by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne and media overseen by MediaCom. An outdoor campaign will roll out on 15 August.
The Crown Lager marketing activity will be followed by the Cascade relaunch, with a campaign to kick off in about two months. Ruiu, who is general manager of marketing for global and craft brands, remained tight-lipped about the exact details of the campaign, but he did say the investment was “sizeable”, and said the activity will be “comprehensive”.
Talking about the Cascade rebrand, Ruiu said: “Fundamentally the brand got lost in the last five years. So in amongst all the changes and challenges of the old Foster's, unfortunately something so amazing got lost in the middle of all the confusion.”
The rebrands come after CUB relaunched the iconic Victoria Bitter brand last year. The company increased the strength of the beer after and apologised to consumers for previously tampering with the beer's former recipe.
Oppy said: “We've always invested in our key brands. VB was the first brand we wanted to focus on, and it was about getting the proposition right. Now we are focusing on our premium brands. With VB, we realised that if you get the message right, if you tell a story, consumers respond. Now we want to do that with Crown and Cascade.
“There is no doubt, we are looking across all of our key brands to make sure they are in the best shape possible. We are increasing our focus on getting our beer brands right.”
However, even though Oppy said that the company has “lost its focus” on some of its key beer brands in recent years, he was careful to point out that the situation was not as dire as one might make out. “Across our portfolio, we have always focused on beer. We have a strong portfolio of beer brands, such as Carlton Draught, and as marketers we have always recognised the power of these brands.”
The CUB media account is currently out to pitch, putting MediaCom on alert. A decision is expected in October. Oppy said the company has a “strong relationship” with MediaCom.
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