UK: Scottish & Newcastle successful World Cup campaign expected to bring in bumper return

During the World Cup, Scottish & Newcastle sponsored finalist France through its wholly-owned Kronenbourg, its big-selling southern European brand, Sagres, went all the way to the semi-finals with Portugal, its other major sponsored team, Sunday Herald Scottish posted July 09.

“It’s been a very good June”, said spokesman Nigel Pollard.

Final figures are not in yet but there is no doubt the brewer expects a bumper return on its World Cup investment.

And so does Scotland’s pub trade, despite the national side not making it to Germany. “The World Cup will be worth an extra £20 million for outlets in Scotland over the whole month,” said Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association.

Scottish & Newcastle looks like the biggest winner in the battle between the brewers, one of the big commercial contests in the event. Sales of its main brands in Britain – Foster’s, John Smith’s and Strongbow – took off on the back of England’s run into the quarter finals even if, as one barman explained, “the Scots come along to watch England lose”.

Although Scottish & Newcastle had no direct commercial involvement with the England side, it invested heavily in Britain through, for example, its Football Flutter promotion with Ladbrokes.

After England were knocked out, the continued progress of Portugal and France boosted sales in Europe where S&N is heavily represented with brands it either owns outright or in joint ventures. The company particularly needed to make gains in France, a black spot where it has lost market share since buying Brasseries Kronenbourg in 2000.

Before the World Cup, Scottish & Newcastle chief executive Tony Froggatt had cautiously predicted a 2% jump in sales in Britain during the tournament but the company now says that is too pessimistic. The evidence from sales of tap and packaged beer is they could be up by 10-20%. Rival brewer Carlsberg – although Scottish & Newcastle works with it in some markets – saw 30% gains during June.

Scottish & Newcastle spent months preparing for the World Cup, ramping up production and marketing, supplying outlets with sales-promoting giveaways and time-saving devices, such as cardboard bulk pint-carriers, to speed up sales across the bar.

Big pub chains followed suit. The 9600-outlet Punch Taverns offered its publicans half-day courses called Profit Through Sport to help them capitalise on the World Cup. “Pubs need to position themselves as the perfect venue for watching live sport,” said Kiernan Lynch, retail standards operations manager.

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