Ads and sunshine credited with boosting beer sales
MILLER Brands has credited its marketing initiatives and good weather over the summer as contributing to its reported growth in revenues this year.
The brewer, which imports Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Pilsner Urquell and Kozel to the UK, reported an 11% increase in net revenue for the six months ending September 2014 and a 5% increase in rate of sale.
Peroni Nastro Azzuro was credited with driving growth; the Italian lager brand is said to have benefited from marketing support including the ‘Storie di Stile’ campaign which launched in 2013.
Rolling into this year, the Storie di Stile campaign aimed to showcase the brand’s heritage by telling the story of Peroni Nastro Azzuro’s creation in Italy in 1963. The campaign ran in cinemas as well as print and outdoor advertising locations.
Czech beer Pilsner Urquell was also highlighted as a strong performer. Miller Brands reported volume growth of 19% for the brand, while fellow Czech beer Kozel also enjoyed volume growth, up 27% for the same period.
Following the strong performance of its world beers, Miller Brands has broadened its UK portfolio, rolling out Belgian abbey beer St Stefanus nationwide.
Brewed in Ghent in the Flemish region of Belgium, St Stefanus is now available through Matthew Clark.
Gary Haigh, managing director of Miller Brands UK, said the brewer’s performance “is testament to the choices UK beer drinkers are making for genuine and authentic tasting beer”.
“The industry has long suffered declining volumes and it’s great to be supporting the recovery of this with brands such as Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Pilsner Urquell and Kozel,” said Haigh.
“These brands carry heritage whilst continuing to innovate therefore driving the category forward and exciting new consumers to world beer.”
