Harvest Fall Beer Promotions

Cheers, Sept, 2000 by Priscilla Estes

The sizzling brew sales of summer are a tough act to follow, but the good news is that fall beer promotions are hot this season. Prepare to harvest the profitable promotions offered by most major beer players. From hockey to Halloween, there's something for all, from chains to local hangouts.

FOOTBALL KNCK-OFF$

Football promotions are great ways to reach beer's key target market, something Miller Brewing Company knows well. This year, Miller added an oversized bartender's version of its 33-page, 18th annual edition of the Miller Lite NFL (TM) Football Guide. Jeff Waalkes, Miller Brewing Company's corporate communications, says "Bartenders can use this Guide on-premise at game time as a source for ranking, statistics, player information and other details. As an official sponsor of the NFL, Miller has the right to use all 31 team logos. The logos create high-profile, attention-getting point-of-sale pieces which we can carry into local promotions." Expect full POS materials from Miller, including danglers, inflatables and more.

Corona tackles the football season with the humorous Lime of Scrimmage and Limeheads themes. "The Limeheads are primarily an on-premise promotion that feature caricatures of football players in the form of collectable beer coasters," says Don Mann, product director for Mexican brands for the Gambrinus Company, east coast importers and marketers of Corona. "The parrot-headed line-up includes Tweetie Trash-Souawaker, Hacksaw Limebuster, Jan Coronakowski, Deep Freezer Parrot, The Mad Bomber and Papa Parrot. Corona's Lime of Scrimmage features turn-key kits (posters, banners, table tents, etc.) for ease of execution," says Kevin Kramnic, Modelo brand manager for Barton Beers, west coast importers and marketers of Corona.

Coors takes a different tack, teaming up with Direct TV mid-August through September. Dave Taylor, Coors corporate communications, says "Two hundred and fifty consumers will get a chance to win the ultimate entertainment package that includes a Direct TV dish, remote control, receiver, installation and one year total choice subscription package." Backed by radio spots, full POS is available.

Anheuser-Busch scores with a fan-based, team-specific approach. Dan McHugh, director of retail sales and promotion, says, "We are using fan-based photography to create a tailgating atmosphere with pictures the represent the local market. There's a catch phrase for each market."

For instance, for the Rams, it's 'Gotta Go To Work.' For Green Bay, where the fans own the team, it's 'Tailgate With The Owners.' For Pittsburgh, "If It Ain't Steel, It Ain't Real." On-premise electric football games will roll out nationally, along with team decals and Monday night football schedules. "The 21-to-27-year-old is the primary market," says McHugh, "but we also appeal to a broader, 21-to-40 sports bar crowd."

European football (what we Yanks call soccer) rates a plug, especially since the season is long (August through May) and can improve your morning trade --live games air at 10 a.m. EST. A star soccer promoter is Carlsberg, imported by Labatt USA. Steve Ward, marketing director of European brands for Labatt USA, says, "There is quite a large underground interest in European Soccer in the U.S., typically in the major metros."

Ward says that Carlsberg works with closed circuit TV companies to get rights to the games. "Carlsberg ads appear in the games, which are being watched in a bar that has Carlsberg available. You are advertising literally at the point of sale, so it's a brilliant close sale for us."

Other sports get the autumn treatment as well. Heineken once again swings in September with sponsorship of John McEnroe and the U.S. Open tennis matches, August 28 - September 10. "The standard beer drinker is a sports enthusiast who watches many different types of sports," says Dan Rotella, national accounts marketing manager. "Our U.S. Open promotion is supported with television, radio and print advertising."

OUTRAGEOUS OCTOBER

October offers 11 major beer promotions, six Halloween-related. "Halloween is big across the board, not just the beer industry," says Taylor of Coors, which continues its Queen of Halloween promotion for the sixth year. The celebrity queen is crowned the end of September and ties into a fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in which drinkers purchase $1 to $5 paper pumpkins on premise. "We've raised over $10 million in the last eight years," says Taylor.

Corona gives us "Save a Pumpkin: Carve a Lime" and "The Outer Lime Zone," with the catchy slogan: Take Us To Your Corona. "Halloween is becoming the second biggest holiday in the beer industry," says Don Mann from Gambrinus. "A Corona Halloween promotion gives operators a chance to trade up in terms of margin and promote an import at a higher margin. That's the story behind all our promotions."

Other promos aimed at scaring up profits include Miller's "Bring Your Party to Life," with POS materials that feature a glamorous laboratory assistant in a Frankenstein-like setting; and Boddingtons' "Invasion of the Boddie Snatchers," with bar-roaming Boddie Snatchers and t-shirts that tease "Hands Off My Boddie." "Halloween is the second biggest on-premise party occasion, right after St. Patrick's Day," says Steve Ward of Labatt USA importers of Boddingtons Pub Ale Draught. Ward also manages a non-Halloween theme for the Stella Artois 'brand: Stella's first-ever US television spot. "We'll be debuting this early October in San Francisco," says Ward.