Ad campaign pushes Tyskie beer to No. 1 position
Last year Tyskie doubled its market share and became Poland's No. 1 beer thanks largely to an aggressive two-year rotating ad campaign.
The TV ad campaign, which first aired in March 1999 and is running on public and private stations, was created by Warsaw-based advertising agency Corporate Profiles DDB. Andrzej Dlugosz, a beer industry spokesman, said the campaign was successful because it capitalized on Poles' fondness for foreign beer brands. In three commercials, Irish, Czech and German beer drinkers are seen enjoying alcohol-free Tyskie rather than their local beers.
"Poles adore German, Czech and Irish beer," Dlugosz said. "And (the ads give the impression) that people in those countries drink Polish beer, too."
The key to the campaign, he said, was to reverse the stereotype that imported beers are better than Polish brews. "The stereotype was used to build the brand," Dlugosz said. "(But) it's interesting that Zywiec lost its position as No. 1."
Poznan-based Kompania Piwowarska's Tyskie brand now has about 15.4% of the market, according to market researcher ACNielsen and Piwochmiel, an association of domestic beer companies. Tyskie unseated Zywiec, now in the No. 2 slot with about 9.6% of the market. The third most popular beer, which is also produced by Kompania Piwowarska, is Lech with a 7.5% market share.
Before the campaign was introduced, only a small number of beer drinkers were aware of Tyskie. "The brand was recognized in Silesia and the client (Kompania) wanted to promote the brand as one known throughout the country," Kostro-Olechowska said.
Although Tyskie is now the market leader, Kompania still trails the Zywiec Group in terms of production. With Zywiec, EB, Warka and Heineken among others in its portfolio of beers, the Zywiec Group still has 31.1% of the market. But that figure is down from 36.6% in 1999. Kompania's share increased to 28.8% in 2000 from 22.7% the previous year.
But despite losing its leading position, Zywiec isn't out of the picture, Dlugosz said. "I think that 2001 will belong to Zywiec," he said.
Bogna Sikorska, an analyst at CDM Pekao, agreed that Zywiec could stage a comeback, but that it probably wouldn't happen this year. She added that the Tyskie campaign kicked off a trend in beer advertising to promote aggressively, and it's fashionable among breweries to advertise that way now.
"Kompania started by seriously promoting the Lech campaign," Sikorska said. The company's intention was to position Lech as the No. 1 beer, not Tyskie. However, it appeared that the Tyskie campaign did a better job, as it became the leading brand. "Tyskie was accidentally promoted as the No. 1 brand," he said.
Sikorska said that the beer sector spends more money on advertising than any other sector. According to Expert Monitor, a market research company tracking ad spending, beer producers spent zl. 224 million ($50.9 million) on advertising last year. Of that amount, zl. 206.6 million ($47 million) went to television. In 1999 the beer sector spent 75.5% less on advertising.
Kompania Piwowarska's television ad spending for Tyskie reached zl. 28.6 million ($6.5 million) in 2000, up 102.8% over the previous year.
As breweries fight for the loyalty of beer drinkers, Sikorska and Dlugosz agreed that even though Tyskie is on top, Zywiec will soon be the leader again. "It's just like when EB and Lech were fashionable," Sikorska said. "Zywiec is simply there."
