Australian Liquor Marketers (ALM) is a subsidiary of Metcash Trading Limited. ALM is a leading broad range liquor wholesaler, supplying to more than 14,500 hotels, liquor stores, restaurants and other licensed premises in Australia and New Zealand.
Following the successful repositioning of two of ALM’s biggest bottle shop franchises; The Bottle-O and Cellarbrations, BrandMatters was once again appointed by ALM, this time to develop a white-label European beer brand for distribution across ALM’s store network.
As the beer market becomes increasingly crowded, more and more consumers are embracing imported European beer. The brewing heritage and crisp taste of the European beers, coupled with the perceived expense of even the more mainstream Australian beers has resulted in a growing market for reasonably price European beer.
With competitors recently launching their own white label offerings, a well-positioned European offer would allow ALM to capitalise on the increased opportunity of their ‘own brand’.
BrandMatters was commissioned to undertake a market and competitor research piece to define a clear positioning for the new brand before developing the name, brand story and packaging designs.
To commence this project, BrandMatters undertook a rapid desk research piece including reviewing industry forums and as reviews on competitor beers, supplemented by competitor store visits to gain an understanding of the pricing and range of premium versus value imported beers. Finally, relevant market data was reviewed and distilled into key insights that provided a foundation for brand development.
Using these insights BrandMatters then developed a draft brand framework including brand story, positioning and naming themes for the new beer. BrandMatters then presented this to key ALM stakeholders for discussion and feedback before finalising.
Using this finalised brand positioning, BrandMatters conducted an internal namestorming session to generate a longlist of names for the new beer. A shortlist of the names that most aligned to the positioning was presented to key ALM stakeholders.
The chosen name – Veras 1866 – was then brought to life via several logo options, displayed across cans, bottles and cases. The chosen design was rolled out by the BrandMatters studio across all packaging including cans, bottles, containers, cartons and sample catalogues and in-store posters.
Veras 1866 was chosen because the word Veras is a European word meaning ‘real or true’, and 1866 is the year that the brewery was founded – strongly communicating the heritage of the brand and supporting the chosen positioning.
A key success factor in the design process was the linking of the brand story to the French mastiff who has been guarding the castles of the European elite since 1866. The French mastiff and the story further serve to bring to life the heritage of the brand which fulfils a role in providing the consumer with a reason to choose. The story is displayed across the labels and point of sale and ensures the brand becomes memorable and distinct.
The new beer was successfully launched internally to employees at the IBA National Conference to create awareness and excitement around the new brand, and then launched externally in December 2015.
ALM has been able to capitalise on the increase in popularity of European beer by maximising market share using the launch of this exciting new product. The clear strategy, aligned positioning and strong visual identity means this product has been successful both internally, with the retailer network and with consumers.
As a result of this work BrandMatters continues to work with ALM on additional brand projects.
