China’s beers target young market with online delivery and World Cup promos

Harbin World Cup promo

By Mark Baber
June 18 – Chinese beer industry, and particularly Tsingtao Brewery and Anheuser-Busch InBev owned Harbin Beer are using World Cup to boost market share, especially amongst the younger demographic.

According to the an industry report, China’s domestic beer production in 2013 was 50.62 million tons, of which China Resources Snow produced 11.72 million tons (23.15%) Tsingtao Brewery, 8.7 million tons (17.19%) and Anheuser-Busch InBev, 6.55 million tons, (14.1%).

As a World Cup sponsor, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest beer company, is allowed to designate brands to represent it in certain territories and in China that brand is Harbin Beer which they acquired in 2004.

Harbin are using the official beer sponsor designation to launch a new brand campaign and reconnect beer with watching sporting events, activating the activities through on-line, off-line, in-store and on-pack promotions throughout the World Cup. Harbin Brewery advertising will be displayed during three Group games during June.

Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, China’s most famous brewery outside China, which was set up by Germans in 1904, has started a “college fan club contest,” and is spending 83.2 million yuan ($13.4 million) on advertising on the CCTV news network.

The Qingdao-based brewery, now in private hands again after being successively taken over by the Japanese and then the Nationalists and then becoming a State-owned enterprise, has also launched a “2014 Football Memorial Set” at 118 yuan ($19) and “2014 Football Theme Beer Cans” package mailed at 60 yuan ($9.5).

The new branding has been designed by Shanghai’s Dragon Rouge who describe the design as blending “the Tsingtao equities in the exciting and passionate Brazilian and football cultural elements. An iconic Tsingtao green is applied as the dominant color of the design to express the new rage of South American heat around the world; the illustration is abstract, relaxing and light-hearted, showing different moments of celebration with tsingtao beer!”

China is somewhat unusual in boasting a thriving online market for consumer sales of alcohol. According to the Alibaba Group, a total of 1.6 million cans of beer were sold on tmall.com during a sales promotion on June 4, generating revenues totalling 6.25 million yuan ($1 million). Tmall provide same-day delivery of beer in 42 cities in order to ensure customers get the freshest product, whilst Yihaodian.com, an online supermarket may introduce late-night food deliveries to meet demand from fans staying up late to watch games.

Notwithstanding the marketing frenzy, data from previous World Cups has shown beer sales in China have not significantly increased during previous World Cups in 2002, 2006 and 2010, suggesting the effort may increase sales for certain brands, but the main beneficiaries will be eCommerce sites and publishers.

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734928921labto1734928921ofdlr1734928921owedi1734928921sni@r1734928921ebab.1734928921kram1734928921


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