Star Lager: 60Years,10 Billion Bottles, And Still Counting
An enduring brand is a legacy to its owner, including the consumers who are brand loyalists. Such brands transcend the rational to operate on an emotional platform with its consumers. Having successfully navigated the Nigerian marketing landscape for 60 years, Star Lager Beer has become a phenomenally successful Brand. M2 estimate is that the brand has sold over 10 billion bottles till date, though it is not officially confirmed. O’Lekan Babatunde captures the story of Star, after an interactive session with Jacco van dan Lindin, Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries, M2’s Elcee McEdwards and Lanre Oni.
Nigeria Breweries’ Star lager brand is one of the few brands in the country that have sojourned in the tupsy turvy Nigerian market landscape long enough to be considered mature to look at or aspire for the next level marketing – Lovemark Brands! After all, a long, healthy and most rewarding 60 years of very impactful presence in market according to the NB plc, is a landmark record that calls for celebration. This explains the brand owners’ and loyal consumers’ demonstrable emotional attachment to the brand.
The Star lager brand on Tuesday, 2nd June 2009 attained the 60-year age mark in its long and enduring history of market leadership. During this time, the brand has attained the enviable and undisputable status of an icon in the Nigerian market. Its popularity towers above its industry competitors’ and sometimes dwarfs other brands on the Nigerian Breweries stable.
STAR lager as a beer brand, to some consumers and industry players, has assumed the image and stature of a national icon. “Star is the beer indisputably associated with brightness, social fun, high quality in taste and style – a world-class brand.”
Historically
On a historical note, the brand was introduced into the Nigerian market on 2 June 1949 as the first indigenous beer brand; the beer market before then having been dominated exclusively by imported brands. Shortly after its entry into the market, Star quickly overcame challenges usually associated with a new brand in a market already used to imported beer brands and started a path of tremendous growth. For instance, in 1962, about 2,191,376 cartons of Star were sold and by 1975 the figure has risen to 11,266,000 cartons. As at 2003, the sales figures were in the region of over 40 million cartons in that year alone. Up till today, the result has continued to soar tremendously. Company records show that by 2004, when the company celebrated its 55 years anniversary, Star had sold a total of 70 billion bottles, grossing a total of 480 million bottles for that year alone. For last year, NB Plc sold 150 million cartons with 50 percent of the sales going to Star beer, which translates to over 690 millions bottles. By simple statistical analysis, M2 estimates that the Star brand has sold over 10 billion bottles till date.
Confirming the brand’s industry leadership position to M2 in an interview, last week, the marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jacco van der Linden, confidently, like a gallant warrior, displayed his love for the winning brand. “Three scores and still going strong without a sign of weariness,” Jacco announces, “Star has turned 60 years”. Though, the Marketing Director took over about a year ago, he understands the market and is well at home with the brand’s history. Jacco, it was who brought Heineken to Nigeria at the return of the brand about a decade ago. He served as the Export Manager for the brand in Nigeria for years before he returned to Amsterdam. So, when he says that Star has the record of being the first beer brewed in Nigeria at a time when the company, Nigerian Breweries, was only 2 years (1949), one is forced to listen to the marketer with rapt attention.
“The name ‘Star’ was born out of the ambition to brew a very high quality beer brand which will be the Star of the nation”. And over the years, Star has grown from strength to strength, gaining twice the market share of the number two beer brand in the country, which incidentally is Gulder. This does not happen always and in many countries – for the no 1 beer to have twice the market share of the no 2.
What has been the staying power behind Star beer brand?
For the Marketing Director, this resides primarily in the quality of brand which has made it No. 1. Other virtues include clear head marketing and ability to maintain longer standing years of consistency in product taste which makes the customers happy. Without Star’s star quality, other strategies would not have been effective; Jacco would proudly tell anyone who cares to listen. To ensure untainted quality for the brand, each bottle of Star larger passes through 213 quality check points before it leaves the breweries and finds it way into the hands of waiting consumers. Also, consistency in communication which shows clarity in expressing and emphasizing “the brighter side of life” no matter the change in marketing method, brings joy and pleasure to the consumer .
The beer market in Nigeria is a fast growing one no doubt, compared to the western world. But considering the consumption per capital, it is still relatively low. According to experts and industry analysts, it used to be higher in Nigeria in the 80’s before it declined. But in the last few years, it has been increasing, although very slowly. For the marginal increase, the star brand has the driver’s seat in terms of market share, and may be share of voice in the market.
Key industry figures and analyst like Charles O’Tudor, CEO, Adstrat BMC; Akin OSEWA, Managing Director, Landmark Exposures Limited (The management excellence advocacy firm); Anthony Swart, CEO, Brand Union, South Africa; and A. Shittu, a C-Level Executive Marketing Communications Consultant, commented on the brand success story Star’s of 60 years market leadership (See box).
Was it all Smooth? No.
Actually, the road has not been all smooth for the brand. The brand once fell into the cacophony of voices in the undifferentiated ‘green bottle’ product category. Harp from the stable of arch competitors, Guinness Plc, had the market leader by the ‘balls’ while other followers, largely in the un-prestigious saving category, were all gleefully nibbling away at Star’s market share. Bola Akingbade, former Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries who currently wears the cap as Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, in a public presentation on building enduring brands at the M2 Global Marketing Network conference in Lagos, last year, confessed that the brand relapsed and indeed fell from its leadership position losing consumers and revenue in tonnes. Reason, the brand for once felt old in both look and feel; it therefore lost its connection with the consumers and the brand slipped for about a year or two preceding the rejuvenation cum rebranding.
The Great Comeback
However, the egg-heads of the Nigerian Breweries marketing team etched out a well thought-out rebranding programme exactly a decade ago. The rebranding cum repositioning exercise culminated in the arrival of the new Star bottle in a chauffeur driven untainted white limousine.
Star beer as a beer born by Nigeria and raised by Nigerians took over from Gulder 10 years ago to be the No. 1 beer in country and the result since then has been stunning.
The Marketing Director, while not dwelling on what led to the rebranding, however agrees that 10 years ago, it was necessary to introduce star in a new bottle. But the innovation, style and colours deployed by Nigerian Breweries’ Star and its agency of record, now of 60 years, Lowe Lintas, recorded a ‘wow’, gathering the most number of celebrities including Nduka Obaigbena, Publisher of ThisDay, and the then Miss Nigeria to welcome back the brand.
Star has always been innovative and has been leading by introducing different ideas such as the change in bottle which makes it stand out on the shelf and on the table of consumption. “It was also the first lager beer in Nigeria to introduce the can beer packaging in place of bottles,” Jacco proudly says.
Asked about specific market share for the brand, he categorically emphasizes that he cannot give the specific market share of star but was quick to confirm that Star has a wide range of consumers from about 18 years to about 80 years. “Star has been able to have customers loyal to the brand at a very young age and throughout their lives, they will want to have their Star beer as and when necessary. This makes the brand to have a very wide range of the drinkers. So, for me, my work is to get my market share up to the level I can get my customers loyalty up.” In a bid to continue to up the ante, NB is planning a new customer care line cum feedback loop on every bottle. This is planned to take effect before the end of the year.
Music and the Star Brand
Star has proved to be the leading supporter of music. It has operated on the music tripod, sponsoring big musical concert, and the key rationale is to remain relevant and fresh.
According to the Marketing Director, Star is concerned with friendship and with making people happy. It is therefore logical that it finds a vehicle in music to connect friends together and make them happy. This is why the Star brand has come up with music triangular initiative which has been built over time, consisting of Star Mega Jam, Star Trek and Star Quest. With conscious plan to make it bigger and better every year, the programmes has become more interactive and involving with the consumers.
“Through music, we provide consumers with unique experiences which amount to huge investments by sponsoring events like ‘Star Mega Jam’, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Quest’.” The first brings big artistes of the consumers’ choice from Europe and America for their delight; Star Trek is the tour of local star artistes around Nigeria, and Star Quest aims at bringing up new talents in the country. This is the promotional power of Star via music and which has always satisfied the music yearning of Star consumers.
The Star Game show is an associated brand building platform that the brand has explored to its fullest. It has been on for upwards of five years running and consumers actually do look forward to it.
Is Star a threat to stable ‘soul mate’ – Gulder? Not Sure.
Though, star has been able to draw new consumers in the past years, Gulder beer drinkers have been on the increase in the past couple of years too. According to the highly professional marketer, it is unprofessional to guide a brand against the other, especially from the same stable. Every brand is an independent individual that must build its own market. “My work,” says Jacco, “is to stimulate the two brand marketing teams to be more competitive and to sell well. However, from a technical point of view, Star and Gulder beer drinkers are two different types of people whose individual needs we satisfy with brands from our portfolio, taking cognizance of their differences in taste and image profiles. The brands give different functional and emotional fulfilment to their respective consumers. Nigeria Breweries have been able to balance this relationship because both brands are number one and number two beer brands respectively in the Nigerian market.
Marketing Communications Support – Case Study in Marketing
Star is also No. 1 in the market. When we also consider consistency with agency, it is safe to say that “no agency understands the brand personality and the heartbeat of the Star brand like Lowe Lintas.” The agency and client’s understanding of the consumers and that particular market has proved to be unrivalled.
Perhaps, the best known of these factors to the consumer is the advertising support which has consistently projected the superior quality of Star over the years. From the very first campaign slogan of Ah! Star – Beer at its best” introduced in 1949 through the “Brightness” campaign of the 1970s/80s, to the “Turn to Star – The ideal brew” campaign, launched in 1989, to the “Live the Brighter Life In Style – Star Ahead on Taste” campaign of the 1990’s and then to the recent campaigns of “Never A Dull Moment with Star”, “Share the Brighter Life”, “Shine Shine Bobo” and others, it is clear that the advertising campaign development history of Star has been consistent in creating the image of “BRIGHTNESS “FUN” AND “BEST’ for the brand. The rave-making campaign that heralded the STAR Bottle change in 2000 is still fresh in the mind of consumers. The ‘Star Dance’ and Shine Shine Bobo are award winning materials.
On the whole, the areas of advertising and marketing campaigns are areas in which Star has created value in the life of so many people – consumers, the advertising agency, Support Service Providers, the Media Models, Promotional item producers – the list is endless. “We have very good relationship with our agency which makes us open to each other, enabling us to discuss our differences and ideas to come up with creative solutions. This is an agency that has known us so well and it is important for us as a brand not to forget where we are coming from as long as consumers continue to appreciate what the Star brand stands for,” Jacco says about his agency of 60 years.
Going forward, the brand is coming up with a new marketing communications and creative strategy in the area of famed 360degrees Communications. The new campaign is to include T.V, outdoor, radio, internet, mobile phone; a campaign which the Marketing Director thinks will set some new standards in Nigerian market.
Anniversary Activations
Like the blue ribbon night 10 years ago, when NB celebrated the iconic brand’s golden jubilee anniversary, the brand is asking loyal consumers and interested Nigerians to dress in shades of blue – the Star brand colour – on the 17th of July in celebration of Star’s 60th anniversary. Special mobile Star teams will go around Nigerian cities looking at people in blue to evaluate how well they are creatively dressed in blue. Selected consumers will be rewarded on the spot by these teams. Another angle to this is that interested participants can take a picture of themselves when dressed in blue and upload same onto Star’s website. Thereafter, invitees and communications materials will be sent to selected people who automatically qualify for a raffle in which they could win flat screen televisions and other exciting prizes. The occasion will also serve to launch the new Star and its new T.V commercials, a new multi-million production. A special anniversary Star Game Show is also in the offing.
On the Way to Becoming a Lovemark Brand?
Faced with the question of what makes some brands inspirational, while others struggle a few years ago, advertising giant, Saatchi & Saatchi CEO, Kevin Roberts, in his book, answered – Lovemark -The Future Beyond Brands! Lovemarks transcend brands. They deliver beyond your expectations of great performance. Like great brands, they sit on top of high levels of respect.. Lovemark reach your heart as well as your mind, creating an intimate, emotional connection that you just can’t live without. According to Kevin, take a brand away and people will find a replacement. Take a Lovemark away and people will protest its absence. Lovemark is a relationship, not a mere transaction. You don’t just buy Lovemarks, you embrace them passionately. Will star aspire to the lovemark status on its next decade run, and how well can the yet to be unveiled next level marketing strategy and the new Star position the brand to increase affinity, bonding and intimate emotional connection with its loyal consumers and prospects. A Lovemark, as propounded by the Saatchi & Saatchi boss, should be the next level for the brand relationship with consumers if the Saatchi & Saatchi boss were to be asked what the next level should be for the iconic Star brand. Happy anniversary to STAR Lager!
