Let There Be Beer is a new large scale marketing campaign that was launched in the UK last week by a conglomeration of some of the largest beer brewers in the world including the likes of AB InBev, Carlsberg, Heineken, Molson Coors and SABMiller, with the aim of rekindling the passion we have in this country for our beer. Their Let There Be Beer campaign will run across social media (click for their Twitter feed, and Facebook page), a new website is due to launch at http://www.lettherebebeer.com/ next month and there is TV advertising planned.

Have a look at the first advert in the embedded video clip.

The first Let There Be Beer TV advert

So what is the reasoning behind this campaign?

According to the latest data from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) there was a decline in beer sales in the first quarter of 2013 of 2.9% and according to CAMRA sales from pubs were down 5.5%. Clearly, it is in the interests of the breweries that shift the largest volumes of beer to try to arrest a possible decline in sales of their drinks and hence this new campaign was born.

The campaign itself

There is already much debate about how the campaign has been targeted, in particular the TV advert. A lot of the debate seems to hinge around the fact that the backers of the campaign are mega-breweries that largely produce lager and that the TV advert appears to only feature lager in bottles and keg lager in the bar scene. Given the background of the brewers involved this is hardly a revelation in my opinion, however, it should be taken into consideration with the following quotes from the campaign PR –

“The campaign aims to reignite the public’s love of beer and restore lagers, ales, bitters, pilsners and stouts firmly in the nation’s hearts…”

along with the following quote from Simon Cox the managing director of Molson Coors –

“There is an ever more diverse selection of beers available in our pubs and supermarket shelves. We’ve seen the emergence of a more discerning beer drinker, a growth in micro-breweries, as well as increased availability of beer brands from all around the UK and the world. Two decades ago there were around 2,000 brands of beer on sale in the UK compared to more than 5,000 on sale today.

“Let There Be Beer is about instilling a passion for beer in the nation’s hearts and remind the nation why beer is the nation’s best-loved drink.”

Furthermore, it has been stated that there is the budget in place for a three year campaign so we are at the very beginning of what could be a particularly long, expensive and potentially engaging project.

Our opinion

We are at a very early stage of the campaign so we can only form an initial impression given that we have only seen one TV advert, limited social media activity and no live website, but clearly the aims of Let There Be Beer is to be lauded. At a time when the beer industry receives pretty much universally negative press associated with binge drinking, pubs closing and price increases it is refreshing to see a campaign that aims to show a positive angle.

For those that belittle the campaign as being a vehicle for large lager breweries to push their wares, I think they are missing the point somewhat. It has been established as part of the campaign guidelines that none of the brewers involved will be able to market a single brand of theirs in advertising. If you watch the TV advert again, you will see drinks that appear to be lagers, but there is no branding to associate the drink with any brewer.

On the issue of the advert appearing to show solely lager, I would make the following points –

1. We are viewing the first advert in a three year campaign
2. The main brewers that are backing the campaign brew mainly lager
3. Lager still provides the largest volume of beer sales
4. It has been elaborated that the campaign will feature lagers, ales, bitters, pilsners and stouts.

Taking the points above into consideration it would appear to be eminently sensible to focus the initial advert at the largest market – lager. Given that there is a commitment to promote other types of ales, isn’t it logical to assume that there would be a forthcoming series of adverts/promotions that would extoll the virtues of the Great British pint of bitter et al?

I think at such an early stage it is misguided to be critical of the campaign thus far. I fully expect the campaign to give lagers as well as craft ale/real ale a fair crack of the whip and I look forward to seeing the results in the coming months.

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