Stella Artois ... Cidre?

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Stella Artois are to launch a brand extension, Stella Cidre. This is due to be released in the UK around Easter and will add to the growing range of alcoholic drinks Stella have in their stable.

Stella have struggled with their brand over the past ten years as not too long ago they were fighting a battle with the type of people who were drinking their lager. Stella became a firm favourite of the ‘Chav’ due to its high alcohol content, wide availability and relatively low price when purchased in bulk in shops. It earned it self the title ‘Wife beater’. This is something I have looked into some years back in detail and I was fascinated as to how a brand had to distance itself from a core customer group without completely quashing their sales in a key market. At the same time Burberry were struggling with their brand as their widely used iconic beige tartan pattern was being widely imitated and reproduced for the masses. They successfully shed the image but it cost them the use of the pattern on many of their products. Stella combatted their negative brand association by introducing a brand variation Stella 4%. This made existing Stella drinkers view the brand differently. It was no longer a drink only bought by thugs and drunks. It won its more sophisticated, premier and high quality image back. The Stella 4% was branded and advertised very wisely and communicated directly to those Stella wanted to be buying their products not to those who previously were.

Stella now believe their brand is so strong and so synonymous with high quality they are extending it into the cider market. Their new brand Stella Cidre will be selling alongside some very established cider brands such as Magners / Bulmers, Westons, Aspalls and even Strongbow. However, Stella say their closest rivals will be the Westons and Aspalls because they are known for their premium quality and this is where they are positioning themselves.

I do not foresee Stella posing a credible threat to any of the existing cider brands in the UK market.

Stella are trying to do what Coca-Cola has successfully done before, diversify into different product ranges in their core sector. Coca-Cola has done this very successfully selling us bottled water, Orange Juice and sports drinks. However, Coke had the foresight to rebrand their different drinks in their respective markets. This was crucial to Coca-Colas success as every market requires very different things from their products and a complete rebrand is certainly necessary. Using the Coca-Cola brand to sell Orange Juice simply wouldn’t work because of the connotations that Coca-Cola has with sugary unhealthy drinks. This would not only severely damage the Orange Juice brand but weaken Coca-Colas position. Professor John Quelch, a branding professor from Harvard Business School, made the point that while brand extensions occasionally succeed, they usually fail. And in the worst-case scenario they not only fail, but also weaken the brand in its original category.

Stella are positioning themselves as a premium cider brand, however they have no heritage in this area. I do not believe that serious cider drinkers will switch to a cider that’s heritage is solely in producing lager. Stella is synonymous with lager/beer and I believe it will struggle to distant itself from this to become a credible cider producer.

However I can see why Stella are so tempted to enter the cider market. For one, Mintel expects to see the cider market grow by 45% over five years. So the potential growth for Stella in the cider market is undeniable and they would be foolish to not try and take advantage of it. I just believe they are going the wrong way about it. I believe they should have created a separate brand, distanced themselves from the lager producing heritage and concentrated on the cider itself. Stella have a “double digit” million pound marketing budget for the promotion of the new drink and they also have the distribution network in place to make the drink widely available. I expect sales to be relatively high whilst the drink is being heavily promoted and people try it for the first time. However when the promotions fade I expect the sales to fade with it.

I believe brands should stick to their original core markets and if diversification is necessary then rebranding should be applied to ensure the new brand is able to stand alone and not depend on the original brand. Let’s be honest we don’t want a Sminoff lager or a Forester’s vodka do we?

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