It’s easy to see why foreign beer brands like Heineken and Stella Artois have lost little of their consumer appeal by being brewed in Australia, says consumer psychologist Adam Ferrier.
Ferrier said the actual provenance of the liquid is only a very small part of its ‘brand promise’ to consumers – timely comments, given today’s announcement that Coopers will brew New York City’s Brooklyn Lager in Australia.
“A beer’s brand promise is made up of everything a brand does, everything that brand stands for, the image of it, the label, the advertising, what’s in the actual liquid itself,” he told Radio Brews News.
He said a beer offers both rational and emotional benefits to consumers, and the latter can survive regardless of where the beer’s brewed.
“A Belgian beer is still a Belgian beer because that’s the promise, that’s what it communicates, that’s its image – even if it’s brewed here,” he said.
“If you’re drinking for example a Stella and you’re drinking it because you want want to be seen as premium… a bit European or a bit arty… then as long as that brand is communicating all that stuff about you and the beer tastes alright, then you’re going to forgive that brand very quickly for being brewed in Australia.
“Therefore it kinds of makes sense that it has very little impact on sales or very few people would reject it, based on the fact that it’s brewed here,” Ferrier said.
Episode 55 of Radio Brews News is available here.
Read more:
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Radio Brews News Episode 55: Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy
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Brewing giants in a fix: Brooklyn’s Steve Hindy
Oh and maybe it still tastes good.
I’m a beer snob. If buying international beers I’ll always buy the imported version. For example, Imported Peroni tastes far better than the local brewed version.
So, if you’re a wanker that just wants people to think you look fancy with your ‘European’ beer, then you don’t care what it tastes like as long as it gives you that image. How crass.
It’s a sad state of affairs for people who actually enjoy the taste of beer, and could care less for the label. The ‘brewed under licence’ beers almost universally taste significantly inferior to their imported counterparts, and I think the main reason they get away with it is that the labelling is so poorly marked as a local brew. Most drinkers have no idea they’re buying something other than the genuine original beer.
Inferior? Or different?
You are telling mistruths Adam Ferrier. I have many friends who won’t buy “Aussie made” foreign beers cos they taste crass just like NEW, Carlton etc…. Your argument fails big time.
To quote you…”If you’re drinking for example a Stella and you’re drinking it because you want want to be seen as premium… a bit European or a bit arty… then as long as that brand is communicating all that stuff about you and the beer tastes alright, then you’re going to forgive that brand very quickly for being brewed in Australia.
BS. So your analogy says all the people buying Mercedes and BMW cars in OZ are fine with them being made in China because it is a German brand and German brands are cool….
You are wrong and the most absurd rubbish I have seen spouted in a while….