Marketing Case Study: Diageo Branding Strategy In Africa

• There is a change in consumers’ preferences in terms of drinking beer in stead of drinking wine, i.e. in Latin America.

Alcohol is the most abused licit psychoactive drugs that affect one 's ability to think rationally and distorts their judgement if consumed excessively. Alcohol addiction is an illness arising from prolonged and excessive intake of alcoholic drinks. An alcoholic is a person suffering from alcohol addiction. Prolonged excessive use of large quantities can eventually lead to chronic health diseases like cirrhosis of the liver, anaemia, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression seizures, gout and alcohol related accidents and crime. Statistics show that 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended daily intake while an estimated 8.697 died of alcohol-related deaths in 2014. According to the WHO worldwide alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths (3.2% of total) and 58.3 million (4% of total) of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Alcohol beverages with varied percentage content are consumed globally during religious, social, cultural events, festivals and other occasions. The use of alcoholic beverages has been an integral part of many cultures for thousands of years (McGovern, 2009). Over the centuries, there have been ongoing measures, research, interventions and policies which are aimed at promoting the moderate use of alcohol with a particular emphasis on preventing or reducing undesired outcomes. This essay will outline the key components of brief interventions in alcohol, the difference in approach with traditional methods of treatment and in conclusion, the

SABMiller and Diageo are two largest beer producer in Africa. ”SABMiller, if combined with its partnership with France's Castel Group, sells roughly 60% Africa’s beer by volume. Diageo’s also expands its operation successfully that Senator Keg, its supercheap beer, is also now number two most popular beers in Kenya. As these giant brewers monopolized Africa’s beer market, it can be said that the market has an oligopoly market structure, and both pursue identic operations, so the market can be labeled as competitive. The interdependence that is happening between both brewers makes the competition happens. As SABMiller produces Impala that is half price from its previous beer Manica, Diageo produces Senator Keg to balance it. Diageo

The Irish whiskey industry in particular has suffered tremendously in the 20th century. in 1779, Ireland had 1,200 distilleries that accounted for nearly 60% of the world market. However, into the 80s, there were only two remaining distilleries. At its lowest point, Irish whiskey sales accounted for only 2% of scotch whiskey sales, and seemed that it would inevitably be obsolete. However, there was a

Maritz, Jaco (2010), “Report: Doing Business in Africa, the Coca-Cola way” http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/doing-business-in-africa-the-coca-cola-way/2433/. Date accessed May 17, 2013.

The Coca Cola company is perceived to be the most famous trademark on the globe, and it is equally so. The company claims more than 400 brands that appeal to a wide range of individuals throughout the world. They are in a position to fulfill needs of every one of their buyers making their experience with their beverages a better one. The entity’s drinks entice a lot of people across all races, age, and gender. Coca Cola is outstanding for its overall popularity as its items are sold in over four hundred countries in the world, while major contenders like Pepsi are just available in very few countries. Such a competitive advantage has placed

These two-company’s economic characteristic include their market size and growth rate from the early 2000’s to 2010. Coke and Pepsi have struggled for years in the carbonated and non-alcoholic sector. According to Barbara Murray (2006c) "But as the pop fight has topped out, the industry 's giants have begun relying on new product flavors and looking to noncarbonated beverages for growth.” (Murry, 2006). For instance, Coke boasts in the advertisement as the king of the soft drink; as a consumer of both products, I agree. About 15 years ago, I was selected to participate in a critiquing of Coke and Pepsi products. Additionally, my travel to Africa in 2007 and 2010 provided the same raving review for the Coke Cola products. Apparently, Coke and Pepsi have been rivals for ages locally, regionally, nationally, multinational, and globally, therefore, one expects them to have an on-going rivalry when marketing the high-energy beverages.

Coca Cola’s international achievement can be attributed to numerous of things, but in order to think globally one must first think locally. This is the main message that Coca Cola Company place huge emphasis on whenever they are entering a country. (Miller) Coca Cola has formatted its approach strategically using a tactical method, this is done to provide the appropriate marketing activities and beverage to its customers. As part of Coca Cola vision to taste the same around the world, they have chosen to standardize its product and manufacturing process. In Trinidad and Tobago the local name for Coca Cola is “Coke”. From the perspective of consumers the key conceptual categories are not the flavours and colas that marketer hold in high regard, but what we refer to locally as the ‘black’ sweet drink. (Miller) Trinbagonian’s are particularly fond of sugar and sweet products this is linked to the days of the sugar cane field. Coke came into Trinidad in 1939, while under the British Government. (Miller)

Grolsch, a company with a strong history and a highly rated product, has just been purchased by SABMiller. The company is evaluating its global strategy in light of the acquisition and determining how to position and sell its beer going forward. Grolsch has positioned itself well to compete internationally and has leveraged several tools (e.g. the MABA framework, strategic analysis) to effectively expand abroad. However, they must assess whether or not the MABA framework is still useful, what type of international strategy they should pursue (i.e. developed vs. developing markets), and if their adaptation strategies will continue to be an asset in their business development. The initial conclusion, detailed below,

That is undoubtedly case for Heineken. Analyzing its strengths and weaknesses it is clear that Heineken wasn’t a truly a global brand at the time the case was written, but was working on it. The confirmation of this is that the company’s presence in more than 170 countries all over the world. The brand is nationwide recognized, as a brand that was established in 19th century and from a local beer became a global icon. Heineken by working so hard on standardizing the brand image achieved its results. The goal for Heineken at the time was to build a demand for the product. In countries where the beer market is already mature like Japan, Australia or Spain Heineken never stopped growing. The obstacle for Heineken to become a global company was connected to the fact that Heineken’s marketing communication in many different countries was not consistent. Another obstacle that Heineken overcame over the years was the fact that it was difficult for the company to overcome the image of its beer as only for special occasions. To be global, Heineken must create the image and perception that Heineken is a daily beer. Also as of 1993, Heineken was associated in countries like Latin America as just only regular imported beer. To become global, the company needs to create advertising campaign in those countries emphasizing values of imported beer to build brand value and attract different customers. To be global Heineken needs to standardize its image and make it consistent

In the Successfully leveraging high-profile events to raise brand profile, Datamonitor (2010) demonstrate the identity of Ambush Marketing, which reflects that Bavaria Beer implemented this marketing tactics to the 2010 World Cup competition in South Africa. Although this marketing method is totally legal and the most effective strategy, several critics argue that Ambush Marketing had created a unfair advantage by not making any

Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB), is the largest manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage in the UK, employing 4000 people and operating out of 13 locations (Odell, 2015). CCGB currently produce 19 brands and 96 different products, UK sales rates of 4 billion bottles and cans per year. Which has aided in CCGB achieve as the market leaders and cemented their presence as one of the most globally recognisable products. (Jorgensen, 1994). In 2015 Coca Cola unveiled a new retail marketing strategy, entitled “the One Brand” strategy, designed to directly addressing the issue of changing consumer attitudes and behaviours, caused by the worldwide debate around sugar and its links to obesity (Roderick, 2016).

Diageo’s code for business value creation does involve their tangible assets, however other organizations can easily buy them, so these are rarely the source of competitive advantage. The greatest tangible source that is not easily obtainable by other companies is their own resource to produce raw and unique materials to their own products. Diageo has competitors purchase materials from their owned and operated distilleries and land to make their own product. Intangible assets are difficult to measure and can’t be touched or seen. These assets drive innovation and contribute to Diageo’s success and competitive edge in the market place. Above, examining Diageo’s unique mix of resources explores how Diageo develops certain resources necessary to support corporate strategy. As we have reviewed, Diageo has a purpose, vision, mission and objective, and has strategically implemented internal assets and has the capability and resources to deliver their strategy.

When looking at the economic aspects affecting the industry and Diageo the main concern is the market saturation reached in many of the developed economies worldwide. With demand remaining constant and competition increasing it is important for firms to identify new markets to invest in, with particular focus placed on Emerging markets. Another important development is the growth patterns in the alcoholic beverage market with the demand for beer increasing by 2.7% with particularly strong growth in the premium brands market. In contrast there has been a decline in demand for wine and spirits which are the industries that Diageo has a large market share. There has also been a recent reduction in operating profit of Diageo in Europe, which can largely be explained by the higher taxes imposed by governments who are striving to reduce alcohol consumption.

They have succeeded in focusing on the brand image, customer retention and adding social and ethical benefits to every bottle they sell (Coca-Cola.com, 2014). “In advertising, everything depends on strategy applied on the market, which is adjusted to the positioning” (Moraru, 2010).