VENTURING INTO OVERSEAS
MARKETS
Asia Pacific Breweries decided to consolidate its position in the Singapore and Malaysian markets before making a concerted effort to venture overseas, an operation which began in 1990. It sought to avoid the mass market and went after the higher end market in the international arena. The international thrust was accomplished in three phases. The first phase (199G-1997) involved $ l billion investments to set up l6 breweries in nine countries to serve fresh beer to consumers and to lower distribution costs. The second phase (1998-2000) involved consolidation in these markets, which included divestment of the nonstrategic Fuzhou Brewery in China and divestment of the noncore liquor, wine. And soft drink businesses in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea' The third phase (2001 onwards ) involved aggressive expansion through selected acquisitions and green field breweries in countries like Sri Lanka, China, Mongolia, and India. Currently Asia Pacific Breweries has 30 breweries in 12 countries.
Holding the leading positions in the Asia Pacific region are countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, Tiger Beer's stronghold markets. In the Western markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States, Tiger Beer has been embraced as the leading imported premium brew from the Far East. In May 2006, Anheuser-Busch was appointed the importer of Tiger Beer in the United States. This tie-up gave Asia Pacific Breweries access to a robust network of wholesalers.
MARKETI N G COMMUN ICATIONS
Asia Pacific Breweries aims to communicate the Tiger Beer brand clearly and consistently to consumers through as many touch points as possible' Tiger Beer received fairly generous publicity in the local newspaper The Straits Times when it was first launched in 1932. It was, after all, Singapore's first lager beer and the first to be brewed in partnership with a leading European brewer. It has always relied on traditional communication media like newspapers and television, the important components in the communication mix, but in countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, which does not allow beer advertising. Tiger Beer has had to find creative ways to generate publicity in the media.
Asia Pacific Breweries has been the title sponsor of the Tiger Cup since its inception in 1996. This biennial soccer tournament is organized by the ASEAN Football Federation. The company has also sponsored the live telecast of the English Premier League for a number of years as well as two top European football supporters' clubhouses in Singapore and other ASEAN countries-Arsenal Football Club and Football Club Barcelona' In 2004 the company formed Tiger FC, a football club for hardcore football fans to get together, discuss football, and watch football matches, together with Tiger Beer.
The company created Tiger Translate in 2005, which served as a platform for emerging artists, film makers, designers, photographers, and musicians in Asia to express themselves and showcase their work on an international platform. Tiger Translate events are held in trendy cities such as Shanghai, Dublin, New York, Auckland, Beijing, and Dubai' Tiger Beer identified 75 emerging Asian artists to feature in a Tiger Translate event to commemorate Tiger Beer's 75th anniversary' By around mid-2008, it was estimated that about 32 million people have been exposed to Tiger Translate'
In December 2U06 Tiger Beer unveiled Tiger Live Southeast Asia's first multisensory brand entertainment center. Housed in the entertainment complex of St James Power Station in Singapore, the S$10 million 1,300-square-merer facility brings the audience through eight specially created experiences-Tiger Tales, Tiger Universe, Tiger Allure, Beginnings. Tiger Nation, Grain to Gold, Tiger Super Cold, and Tiger Den-using high-tech animation effects through state-of-the art multimedia techniques. These experiences help the audience to understand the origin and legacy of Tiger Beer, including the brewing process, its uniqueness and its growth from a local beer to an international icon.
Tiger Beer has an online community of beer and Tiger Beer drinkers. The website allows people to interact by for example, sharing their travel experiences. The UK website also features the Tiger Beer Film Dub where selected scenes of old movies such as Iron Monkey are featured and visitors can dub the scenes using their own script and send them to their friends. Tiger Beer also appoints brand champions among its employees. Employees are encouraged to think of ways to bring the brand to the next level of growth. Activities organized include a Tiger Beer Chilli Crab Festival in New York.
ADVERTISING MESSAGES, APPROACHES, AND CAMPAIGNS
Execution
In terms of execution, the company has found that Western glamor appeals to Asian audiences and thus portrays Tiger Beer as part of the glamorous Western lifestyle that many Asians aspire toward. On the other hand, Western audiences appear to be enthralled by the Asian mystique and this angle has been used for Western consumers.
Messages From Pre-80s to Mid-9Os: Winners
The common thread over the past three decades has been that Tiger Beer is for winners. The first television commercial for Tiger Beer was made in 1913 for the Singapore market. The theme was "Unshakeable" and it showed a group of men at a coffee shop, drinking Tiger Beer. An earthquake erupts, the building begins to shake, and people panic and start to scramble for the exit, but the Tiger Beer drinkers merely look on coolly and go back to drinking their beer. The idea is that Tiger Beer drinkers are as unshakeable as Tiger Beer itself.
The theme for the 1978 ad campaign was “Around the World" and showed Tiger Beer enjoyed around the world by successful, upwardly mobile people including foreigners. This campaign sought to feature Tiger Beer again as a beer for winners. The theme for the 1988 ad campaign was "Reward for Winners" and was meant to showcase Tiger Beer's Gold Medal achievements in international beer competitions using the tagline "Good as Gold." One creative featured attractive people on board a luxury yacht out on the open sea, getting a suntan on the deck and enjoying cold Tiger Beer.
The same "winner" theme continued into the mid- I 990s with a campaign featuring people who performed notable deeds. One commercial showed a girl walking down a street and coming face to face with a bull. A young man sitting in a cafe jumps up, grabs a red tablecloth, coaxes the bull to charge at him, directs the bull through a gate, and finally locks in the bull. Someone shouts in Spanish, "Give that man a beer," and the young man replies, "Make that a Tiger."
Another commercial shows two skydivers jumping off a plane and for one of them, the parachute fails to open. The other diver goes to the rescue by catching the troubled skydiver, opening his own parachute, and landing both safely. The rescued skydiver turns out to be a pretty girl. When the crowd gathers to cheer the hero, someone shouts, "Give the man a beer." Then someone else shouts, "No. Give that man a Tiger."
Messages during the Decentralized Period
Up till the late 90s, Tiger Beer's advertising had been driven by Tiger Beer headquarters, so the "winner" messages had been quite consistent. However, from the mid-90s to 2005, key local markers were given more freedom to develop their own messages. As a result, "local faces" became the theme in Singapore, 'Asian spirit" in Vietnam, and "challenger attitude" in Malaysia. These decentralized campaigns diluted the central theme of "winning" and caused some confusion.
During this period, the 2004 campaign in Singapore adopted a slightly different theme of "What time is it?" It featured various scenes of men getting away from their workplaces or their homes to join their friends at the bar for Tiger Beer. Lt used the musical execution approach with the question "What time is it?" and the answer "Tiger time, Tiger time."
The 2005 campaign featured Jessica Alba joining some fans in a control room drinking Tiger Beer and asking for another bottle when she finished the first. This was the first rime Tiger Beer had used a Hollywood star in its television commercials. The commercial was said to have scored poorly in recall tests. It was criticized for its vague message and the bad choice of Jessica Alba. Many felt that Angelina Jolie would have been a better choice.
Even during the decentralized period, the "winner" theme still came through in some Tiger Beer commercials. For example, one commercial with the theme "The Quest" showed a young woman and a young man being captured in ancient China by enemy troops. The young man manages to overpower his captors, grabs a sword and starts a duel with the enemy leader. The scene then switches to 2Oth-century New York where the young man is now dressed in modem-day clothes and hailing a taxi. Across the street stands a_ modern-day version of the enemy leader and they fight for the taxi, resulting in a chase. The young man escapes and enters a bar where the same lady is waiting for him. She is upset with him but he simply smiles, takes a sip of Tiger Beer and says, "Heavy traffic."
2006 to Present: Centralized Campaign and Winner Message
In 2006, Tiger Beer decided to switch to centralized control in order to project a coherent brand image. The 2006 campaign returned to the "winner" theme with the commercial "Tiger: Unravel the Secret." It featured a five-part short film, each 60 to 90 seconds long, telling the story of Tiger's history and showing the number of awards it had won. The story revolves around a mysterious group of ten men who go to great lengths to protect the secret of Tiger Beer's success from enemies pursuing them relentlessly across different countries and eras. In 2006, Tiger Beer also released a commercial called "Reincarnation." It was meant to be a viral campaign and was circulated among the public via e-mails rat