Brazil: Rio de Janeiro's Carnival is the marketing opportunity of the year for Brazilian breweries. The two major players in the Rio Carnival beer wars are AmBev, which owns Brahma, and the family-owned Schincariol, Ambev's much smaller but active rival in Latin America's largest country, according to Reuters comments from February 2. The Rio Carnival begins on Friday, February 4 and reaches a peak when the top samba schools parade on Sunday and Monday nights.

Ambev was acquired last year by Belgium's InBev, which thus became the world's biggest brewer. Brahma alone accounts for nearly 20 percent of all beer sales in Brazil. AmBev's market share, including its top-selling Skol brand as well as Antarctica beer, is 68 %. Schincariol estimates it sells over 16 % of all beer in Brazil under its Nova Schin brand. Schincariol's marketing director Luiz Claudio Taya said the importance of the Carnival-time campaign was "like a Santa with presents" for beverage companies in terms of business development.

"We seek to boost consumer loyalty through the camarote. People like to see famous people coming here in the media, they like to see the company's festive activities," said Carlos Lisboa, AmBev's marketing director. Brahma's extensive guest list this year includes British "big beat" musician Fatboy Slim and Gisele. All guests have to wear the camarote's T-shirts. In 2001, Brahma refused entry to Arnold Schwarzenegger who declined to wear its garment. Brahma founded the camarote tradition 15 years ago as its old brewery actually makes part of the Sambadrome complex. It is now used as an entertainment venue for over 1,000 people.

Schincariol's two lounges can host 600 revelers, but it has innovated this year by removing spectator seats in front of its camarote so that its guests can have a better view of the parades and more space to dance in full view of TV cameras.

In an apparent tongue-in-cheek reference to AmBev's acquisition by the Belgians, Schincariol's camarote theme is extremely nationalistic, underlining that it is a 100 percent Brazilian-owned company catering for the domestic market. In its patriotic drive, the company went as far as saying it wouldn't mind having foreign celebrities in its camarote, but all it really cares about are its Brazilian guests. Brahma said the acquisition did not mean AmBev would lose its Brazilian roots and as a token of that fielded its own samba troupe with feather-adorned, skimpily-dressed dancers.

Brahma, one of Brazil's best known brands, lured supermodel Gisele Bundchen and actors from the Oscar-nominated movie "City of God" to its camarote last year, winning pages of photos in Brazil's avidly read gossip magazines.

This year rival Schincariol has lined up Luiza Brunet, a stunning brunette model and actress who won a standing ovation at last year's Carnival parade for her looks and dancing, as well as model Ellen Jabour and her boyfriend actor Rodrigo Santoro.

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