Breweries using movies, DJs to revive sales growth

Patrick Moysan, the owner of Chez Lizette, a bar in the port town of Nantes in Britanny, says a beer after work may soon be a thing of the past in France.

"We don't get many people coming in here asking for Heineken," says Moysan, 36, whose bar attracts students and artists.

"Our clientele is developing a taste for wine," he said.

Heineken NV and Interbrew SA, the brewers of Amstel and Rolling Rock, are trying to revive demand. They've followed DJs on tour, hired actress Jennifer Aniston and rapper Jay-Z and sponsored the Cannes film festival to spice up their image. They have also made acquisitions in Eastern Europe, where people are drinking more beer, to make up for fewer buyers in the west.

The Dutch and Belgian brewers, whose shares have fallen 8.3 percent and 3.5 percent this year, will probably say this week revenue stalled in the first half as European and US drinkers favored cocktails and wine and spent less money on going out.

Sales fell in France, the Netherlands, Greece and the US, Amsterdam-based Heineken, the world's No. 3 brewer, said in June. It also predicted first-half earnings will be little changed from the 330 million euros (US$366 million) it earned a year earlier. Heineken reports results tomorrow.

Interbrew, the world's fourth-biggest brewer, will report first-half earnings today.

"They have to make beer more trendy," said Gerard Rijk, a beverage analyst at ING Barings in Amsterdam.

Sales Smirnoff's vodka brands rose 8 percent in the year through June, London-based Diageo Plc said last week, while Allied Domecq Plc, based in Bristol, in April said of its premium wine brands rose 7 percent in its fiscal first half.

The global market share for Heineken and Amstel beers fell to 31 percent in 2001, from 37 percent in 1995.

Leuven, Belgium-based Interbrew, which was among the sponsors of the Cannes film festival, last Thursday said it would begin selling Stella Artois in new long-neck brown bottles in its home market to make it more convenient to drink at events such as concerts.

It's advertising the new bottle on Belgian TV under the slogan "Stella Artois sticks its neck out."

Heineken this sum-mer's The Matrix: Reloaded movie as well as a Thirst competition, which gives winners the chance to spin the decks with DJ Paul Oakenfold on tour.

"We needed to make the brand fresher and younger," Steve Davis, senior vice president of marketing at Heineken in the US, said in a telephone interview.

The company is also introducing a new silver and green aluminum bottle, designed by a 23-year-old French student, to clubs and concert venues in the US, UK and Italy, Heineken spokeswoman Manel Vrijenhoek said.

The design was first sold in French nightclubs and on Dutch beaches as an alternative to Heine-ken's traditional green bottle.

In chief executive officer Anthony Ruys's words, "Heineken wants to maintain a permanent dialogue with young adults."

Brewers want to lure youngsters to their more expensive brands, like Interbrew's Beck's beer, because they make a higher profit on each bottle sold.

In related news, Interbrew will buy a 50 percent stake in Malaysian Lion Group's brewing operation in China, chief executive John Brock was quoted as saying yesterday.

The deal, expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, will position Interbrew as the third largest brewer in China in terms of production volume, the China Daily reported.

Brock the company will spend US$131.5 million for a 50 percent stake to bolster its presence in one of the fastest growing beer markets in the world.

The newspaper said Interbrew will have the option to buy the other half of Lion Breweries in China for the same price a year after the initial deal is sealed.

Most of Lion's beer is sold through brands such as Zhujiang and Double Beer.

The move follows Interbrew's acquisition last year of a 24 percent stake in Zhujiang Joint Stock Company, China's fifth largest and most profitable brewer, and a 70 percent stake in the KK Group's brewing business based in Zhe-jiang Province.

China is the world's largest producer of beer.