'I'm on a low battery today,' says the 42-year-old German between coughs. Despite his obvious discomfort, he manages to be courteous, smiles frequently and exudes a relaxed attitude.
Artois' Queens Club sponsorship deal with the tennis tournament is coming to an end this year, due to a revamp of the Lawn Tennis Association's commercial structure. Last year, Stella Artois also ended its nine-year association with Channel 4 films. Both these premium properties will be hard to replace.
Hilger, however, has already begun the process, with the launch of the Stella Artois Star Over London this summer. The commercial airship will run flights over the capital for six weeks, with tickets priced from £185 to £360.
Flights will take off from Upminster between 10 July and 21 August, and will run for about five hours a day, with a maximum of 12 seats per flight. There will be three routes, each of which will give passengers the chance to take in some of London's historic buildings, parks and landmarks.
Since taking up his role on 1 March, Hilger has been getting to grips with marketing the biggest beer brand in the UK. He says that the next several months will see a period of development activity for the brand, adding that marketing budgets will be boosted 'substantially' to communicate the 'crafts--man--ship, heritage and care that goes into creating the product'.
As fears over binge-drinking loom large in the public consciousness, Stella Artois is a brand under the spotlight.
While supermarkets have taken the brunt of the criticism for their discounting practices, the pictures used to illustrate these stories frequently feature cans of the Belgian beer. 'Stella is a bit like the royal family,' says Hilger. 'Everyone is always watching everything it does.'
In recent months, both Young's and Carlsberg have used this fixation on Stella to their advantage. The pub chain publicised its own range of beers by
announcing its decision to delist the brand because it was no longer 'premium enough' for its clientele, while Carlsberg claimed its family of beers had overtaken the Artois family. By the time InBev got around to pointing out that Stella Artois was still the market leader, the damage had been done.
Paradoxically, the brand is also known for its beautifully shot ads, which evoke a bygone era in rural Belgium. Last year, their tagline changed from 'Reassuringly expensive' to 'Pass on something good', which the company claims was a strategic decision to better promote the Artois beer family. In truth, 'reassuringly expensive' no longer had currency in an age of supermarket deep-discounting.
Despite this, Hilger insists that all InBev's consumer research shows that Stella is still perceived as a premium brand worth paying more for, and is staunch in his belief that brand communications should continue in this vein.
When asked how he unwinds in his spare time, Hilger responds: 'What spare time?' Although he does plan to relocate here, at the moment he is living in a hotel in the UK and returns to his home just outside Bremen, Germany, to see his family at weekends.
He admits that the situation is proving testing. 'It is difficult, but it is probably easier for me than my wife,' he says. 'When things are going well, everything is OK, but if she or the kids are ill when I phone home, then I am in trouble.'
It was Hilger's performance on Beck's - a brand he has worked on since 1995, when it was still independent - that caught the eye of InBev's senior management when it was looking to fill the top UK marketing job. Hilger modestly points out that Beck's is well-loved in Germany. He will have to work hard to transfer this affection to the Stella brand in the UK over the coming months.
Career History:
- 1990-1992 Brand manager, Reckitt & Colman, Personal Care Division, Germany
- 1992-1995 Senior brand manager, spirits, rising to director of export, Carre Company, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong
- 1995-1999 Marketing manager, regional brands, Brewery Beck & Co, Germany
- 2000-2002 Global brand director, Beck's, Brewery Beck & Co, Germany
- 2002-2004 Global vice-president, marketing, Interbrew, Belgium
- 2004-2005 Business unit director, Interbrew, Germany, Italy and Spain
- 2005-2008 Head of sales, Austria/Switzerland, and marketing director, business unit, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Interbrew/InBev
- 2008 to present Marketing director, InBev UK & Ireland