Nigerians
love their beer, and it’s estimated that Nigerians consume close to 18 million
Hectolitres of beer every year, coming second only to South Africa.
With the Western beer consumption slowing down
due to global downturn reverse is the case in Nigeria as it’s actually pretty common sight to
see beer parlours/joints where people go to drink and relax in most
neighborhoods irrespective of their social status.
Indeed,
studies show that with the largest population in Africa, a growing middle class
and a large number of drinking-age consumers, the brewing multinationals may be
jockeying for positions in a market that shows plenty of room for expansion.
With
the amount of pressure on consumer spending given the uncertainties in the
economy, higher cost of living and security challenges which have all led to
the drag in the volume growth among major players in the sector, Nigeria’s beer market is still rated among the 10
fastest growing beer markets in the world, with market share of 1.9 percent,
which is slightly close to the Indian beer market which stands at 3.2 percent
and occupies the seventh place in the global ranking.
However,
the last two years have witnessed a huge competition among notable lager beer
brands in Nigeria.
Noticeably;
it is no longer a two horse race between Nigerian Breweries and Guinness with
SABMiller entry few years ago, as consumers no longer determine quality of beer
with cheap price.
The
competition is becoming intense every single day; consumers and beer
enthusiasts are thrilled by series of campaigns aimed to attract their buying
consciousness. Concerts, sponsorship of traditional festivals, partnership with
football associations, massive marketing campaigns in the mass media, among
others are some of the ways brewery companies are using to deepen their
consumer engagement but today reality is that brand
custodians are struggling to reach skeptical audiences that have become largely
bored by traditional brand communications.
According to Jeremy Bullmore , consumers now build a
perception or an image of the brand just exactly the same way birds build nests
from scraps and straw which they chance upon unlike Guinness Harp lager beer whose attempts to
exert and enforce control of its brand have been noted to have backfired as
consumers themselves have actually become important brand-builders.
Brands have come to realize that every region has their preferred taste
and needs, as consumers now choose what they want themselves.
More so that SABMiller
have succeeded in introducing quality and affordable beer in Nigeria which have
made NB Plc to acquire some regional breweries to compete on the affordable
beer segment without hunt for its supposed premium brands(Star ,Gulder
,Heineken) with its Goldeberg,”33”,Life
brands while little or nothing seeing
from Guinness Harp.
For instance, the southwest market dominated by Yorubas, both SABMiller and NB company’s strategy is
tailored to capture the Yoruba speaking people; Trophy
and its ‘Hononourable’ campaign have given Nigerian Breweries’ Goldberg a fight
for its money. Goldberg in response to the competition launched ‘His
Excellency’ campaign.
In eastern
Nigeria, dominated by Igbos, one of the three biggest ethnic groups in the
country with population over 40 million, SABMiller’s Hero lager is popularly
called “Oh Mpa” or “Oh Father”. The name given to the brand in memory of late
Chukwuemka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Biafran leader, tagged ‘the Hero of the Igbos’ for
setting up an independent nation of Biafra in the 1960s.
The Hero
Lager bottle bears the rising sun that appeared on the Biafran flag and that
resonate with the Igbo people. NB Plc responded with Life Continental Beer
which is all about the progress of the people of the South East According to
the Brand Marketing Manager, Mr. Agu,”This is evident through our ongoing
project – Life Progress Booster. Music is important to the Igbo people,
especially highlife music and with highlife legends like Osita
Osadebe,Celestine Ukwu,Oliver De Coque and many other.
These
regional brands have within a short time become a force to be reckoned with and
they have found their ways into the heart of consumers as the brands now become
the preferred brand in the region which makes it difficult for Harp lager to
continue it nationwide market penetration.
Although, at
a point Guinness Nigeria introduced Dubic beer to wade-off cheap competition
for its Harp lager, also incidentally Harp former Brand Manager, Emmanuel Agu
now call the shots as Portfolio Manager –Mainstream Lager(Goldberg,Life,33&
More) and Stout(Legend, Williams, Turbo King & others) at Nigerian
Breweries Plc - where did Guinness
Nigeria Plc have it wrong? At what point did Harp begin to lose its loyalist,
with major consumers pledging loyalty to other different brands within their
region.
One wonders
if Guinness, maker of Harp Lager might consider any change in strategy as the
popular saying goes “change or die”.
Mogaji ‘Tunde,
is a marketing communications practitioner with expertise in experiential
marketing and media relations services, he can be reached at olatunde.mogaji@gmail.com
or 08056145926
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