Case study provided by The Brand Council.
From Leeds to London, urban style-junkies, music moguls and party animals are turning to cult lagers such as Red Stripe to fuel their hectic leisure time. Nowadays as much as 30% of all consumer spend on alcohol in the UK is on beer.
Red Stripe was first brewed in Kingston, Jamaica back in the 1920s -- its name is thought to have been inspired by the stripes on the trousers of Jamaica's policemen -- and went into full production in 1934. Paul Geddes, the man behind the brand, developed the globally praised, distinctive combination of crisp drinkability and subtle strength by blending imported yeast and hops from Washington State's Yakima Valley in the US.
In 1976, Red Stripe was introduced into the UK and with it came its laid-back Jamaican attitude and the first licence to brew Red Stripe anywhere other than Jamaica. Keeping a check on its authentic Jamaican roots, Red Stripe was soon introduced in draught form to the same specification, quality and strength as the bottle format, and is now one of Europe's fastest growing premium lager beers. Since then, Red Stripe has grown from a 7,000-barrel brand to producing more than 120,000 a year.
Fast-forward to the new millennium and the rebirth of Red Stripe and its cool, cult status. Red Stripe was repackaged in 2001 with a redesigned can and a stubbie bottle, which replicates the one sold in Jamaica and replaced the original long neck bottle. Red Stripe's advertising was key to its reinvention, with quirky amusing ads establishing an equally challenging personality.
Red Stripe, like the people who drink it, also realised that lager and music go together very well. The brand established firm links with a wide variety of music styles and venues.
Old-fashioned barber pole style light boxes sporting the Red Stripe logo can now be found at some of the best urban music venues across the country. These venues include the Brixton, Birmingham and Bristol Academies, Shoreditch Electricity Showrooms and The Yard in London and Prague V and Barca bar in Manchester. Red Stripe's commitment to live, digital and recorded music in the UK is continually reinforced by sponsorship campaigns, including previous associations with the Notting Hill Carnival and the Knowledge Drum & Bass Awards as well as constant and consistent immersion in all aspects of music, club and bar culture.
Red Stripe's website also plays an important part in communicating its links with the urban music scene with nationwide gig and club listings as well as offering a free download of ReBirth music creation software.
The success of Red Stripe is reflected by the fact that it is one of Europe's fastest growing premium beers. In tandem with this, Red Stripe's superior quality has been recognised through the five gold medals it has won in each of the five open lager competitions it has entered over an 18-month period.
漏 2002 Superbrands Ltd