South Africa: Bavaria Brewery’s local subsidiary invested ZAR1 million in marketing campaign

The South African subsidiary of Bavaria Breweries has launched an extensive marketing campaign, centered on the repackaging of its beer, Engineering News released November 17. The company has invested a total of ZAR1-million into the project, aimed at bringing the brand lines in line with the international flagship product, Bavaria Premium.

MD Marco Faber told Engineering News that the investment was designed to support a drive towards market share growth in the premium beer market.

“It was time for a refreshing look and, with Bavaria SA being 100%- owned by Bavaria Holland, we needed to establish a consistent image internationally,” explains Faber.

The brief for the repackaging was given to the design agency in April and the deadline for the implementation of the restyled packs was the end of September.

The project was completed two weeks ahead of deadline and the finished products were available for sale from mid-September. The new eye-catching design incorporates increased vibrancy and colour.

“Packaging material doesn’t change very often and we intend to keep the restyling for the next five years as we believe a consis- tent look in the market will assist in building the brand in South Africa,” says Faber. In the next few months, 12% of the company’s net turnover will be spent on marketing, which is a substantial increase over the previous spend. At least 80% of this budget will be spent on below-the-line activities and strategies are said to be in place to implement these activities effectively with the current sales force. Faber says South Africa is an emerging market and there is rela- tively ‘good growth’.

Bavaria Breweries South Africa exports beer to over 100 countries and sales are estimated at ZAR4-billion. The Bavaria group has a total of six breweries worldwide in Croatia, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa and two in Holland.

One of Faber’s goals is to establish 5% of the premium beer market by 2010.

“This is a very competitive industry and we compete only in the premium beer industry. “We envisage good growth in turnover by 2010 with the infrastructure in the country soaring and the amount of tourists that will hit our shores by then,” says Faber, alluding to the soccer World Cup.

This will pave the way for ‘boundless opportunities’ for existing and future multinational investment with excellent product and marketing potential.

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