Beer roars into Year of the Tiger

As the people of China gear up to welcome in the Year of the Tiger, one lager brand in particular is looking forward to cashing in throughout 2010.

Heineken UK’s Tiger Beer will be roaring into the new year with major marketing investment to celebrate Chinese New Year and the dawn of the Year of the Tiger on February 14 with a host of activities to mark the occasion.

Tiger will be the key sponsor of Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatowns within Manchester and Newcastle as well as in London’s Chinatown, providing high visibility for the brand pre- and post-celebrations.   

A new advertising campaign in January, designed by Saatchi and Saatchi Malaysia, reflects Tiger’s Far Eastern roots and will carry the strapline ‘In the year of the Tiger, what else would you drink?’ while a second design in February, produced by Exposure in the UK, will introduce ‘Lau Hu Mei’ (Tiger Girl), who will feature as a key part of the multi-media campaign.

London Underground digital panels will bring the campaign to life on LCD screens and the design will also feature on a giant screen in Manchester Piccadilly and will be supplemented by outdoor advertising in London, Manchester and Newcastle.

Throughout January and February this activity will be complemented by a heavyweight press campaign in national titles and lifestyle publications, as well as titles specific to the Chinese community.

An extensive online advertising campaign is also planned, running across lifestyle, music, news and magazine sites, and a partnership with arts & culture magazine, Dazed and Confused, has been established.

Consumers in selected premium outlets in London, Manchester and Newcastle will be sent Chinese New Year point of sale kits including posters, Chinese lanterns and t-shirts, and will be presented with an information leaflet containing facts about Chinese New Year and ideas as to how to take advantage of the period in outlet.

Jason Wills, senior brand manager for Tiger Beer, said: “Chinese New Year is a great opportunity to raise the profile of Tiger, bringing more depth and content to our message of Tiger as a leading premium lager, and bringing more of an understanding of the heritage of the brand to our core target market.

“It provides licensees with a product that delivers greater profit margins and the activity planned for Chinese New Year will boost awareness of the brand in key cultural locations, building on Tiger’s solid reputation within our target audience and further afield.

“Next year is all the more significant as 2010 will be the Year of the Tiger, and therefore the perfect platform in which to align the brand with Chinese New Year celebrations.”

Alan Lodge, 23.12.2009