November 12, 1998
ADVERTISING
Can Teutonic Qualities Help Beck's Double Its Beer
Sales?
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By CONSTANCE L. HAYS
Who ever said you couldn't score points with a client
by making fun of his heritage?
That was the formula settled on by a creative team from
the Saatchi & Saatchi unit of Saatchi & Saatchi PLC when
they sat down to figure out how to sell more Beck's beer
for Brauerei Beck & Co., the German brewery. After
flopping badly in the early 1990s, Beck's has recovered
enough to become the No. 5 imported beer in the United
States last year, according to sales data recorded by
Impact, a trade publication.
Sales of Beck's beer rose 11 percent last year, to 7.4
million cases from 6.7 million, said Frank Walters,
director of research at Impact. That is still lower than
the 8 million cases sold in 1990, the peak year for
Beck's in the United States, he noted, but the brand is
on the upswing, partly because of a new management team
and sales force. The brand is also buoyed by the growth
of imported beers in the United States in general. Sales
of imported beers increased by 12 percent a year in 1997
over the previous year and left the flat domestic beer
business in the dust.
Executives of Beck's, based in Bremen, knew they wanted
to extend their turnaround. They were prepared to spend
a lot of money by their standards: $20 million, twice
the size of any previous U.S. advertising budget for the
company, in the belief that more advertising would add
momentum to sales. "We are totally committed to the
states," said Axel Meermann, Beck's global marketing
director. "We want to double our business in six years,
and we are in year two right now."
And despite possessing normal amounts of patriotic
pride, somehow the company was also prepared to accept
the recommendation of the Saatchi team that the new ad
campaign be centered on commercials that poke fun at
German stereotypes.
The Saatchi executives, Tod Seisser and Jennifer Laing,
found after conducting focus groups and what Miss Laing,
chairwoman and chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi
North America, called "psychological probes" that the
Germanic associations of Beck's were what its drinkers
-- described as males ages 19 to 35, well educated, into
sports and achievement of all kinds -- most admired.
"It's a boy brand," Miss Laing said. "German is the
ideal to the American male. It's strong, and it's all
about precision and expertise. We said: 'If you leverage
your German-ness, that's really potent for this
particular target audience. It just triggers all the
things they want to think about themselves."' But, Miss
Laing added, the brand lacked easy recognition, which
means a lot in the world of commercial buzz. Some people
even have trouble distinguishing it from Heineken, which
comes in a similar green bottle.
After exploring a handful of options, she and Seisser
concluded that the best way to both capitalize on the
Teutonic qualities and appeal to potential Beck's
drinkers was to take a humorous view of certain German
propensities. "This one got ticks on all the dimensions
we cared about," Miss Laing said of the final campaign.
The commercials, which will be broadcast during sports
events and late-night shows starting next Wednesday,
make fun of a certain Teutonic obsession with control,
using various scenarios whose humor would come through
whether it was a beer ad or a late-night comedy skit.
They were heartily endorsed by Meermann, who might have
been a bit puzzled at first about what made them so
hilarious.
In one, a blond actor struggles to get comfortable on a
couch for a relaxation session. He is wearing a stiff
white shirt and tie and is listening to a compact disk
titled "Das Kalm."
"Commence relaxation now," an offscreen voice commands.
It does not work out well.
"Germans don't do laid back," the announcer intones in
an unmistakable German accent. "They do beer."
In another, two actors are playing a key scene from
"Romeo and Juliet." The dialogue is in German, and the
actors are in brittle-looking, larger-than-life costumes
that Seisser, the chief creative officer at Saatchi &
Saatchi New York, said were inspired by archival
photographs of a Bertold Brecht play from the 1930s. The
actors lack any semblance of passion. "Germans don't do
romance," the announcer says.
And in a third, Michael Schenk, a German actor, plays a
comedian whose delivery and brand of humor fail to
connect with his audience. The room is almost empty, and
Schenk's jokes, complete with references to Berlin, fall
flat. "Thank you," he says, to a smattering of hollow
applause. "I'll be here all ze week."
"Germans don't do comedy," the announcer says.
"This is a very rich area," Seisser said. "It could go
on for 10 years. There are certain things Germans are
very, very good at, and certain things they're not good
at, just like everybody else."
References to old Beck's advertising were incorporated
in the new commercials. In all three spots, a bottle of
Beck's is slammed down on a counter for emphasis, just
as in earlier Beck's ads. But there is a new slogan this
time: "The best of what Germans do best." As Seisser put
it, "It reinforces our superiority within that set, and
it sounded good."
Print ads are also scheduled to appear, along with
billboards and radio spots. And the humor, while it may
have taken some getting used to, is thought to be right
for the American market.
"For me, it's hard," Meermann admitted. "I can smile,
but it's hard to think about whether that stereotype is
realistic." But he added, "As long as you, as a German,
make a joke at your own expense, it's OK"
[Image]
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