Interbrew brand Stella topped the Off Licence News chart of carry-out beers in the year to July/August 2003, with sales of 拢438.7m -- more than double the amount spent on runner-up Carling.
Off Licence News editor Graham Holter said Stella's ads, created by global creative agency Lowe, were a major factor behind the success of the brand.
"Stella has been clever to find that 'Reassuringly Expensive' theme and stick at it," he said. "The message that Stella is a quality product has got through and is embedded in the UK consumer's consciousness, even though Stella is often discounted in the multiples."
Holter added: "Rather than going down the irreverent 'lad' route, Stella has stuck to high production values and the ads are almost like new feature films. The quality message is reinforced every time you watch the ads, even though it is not actually a particularly expensive lager."
The top 10 best-selling beer brand list is now entirely made up of lagers, with the most popular ale or stout, Guinness draught, dropping from fifth to 11th in the chart. Total home sales of beer and lager have risen by 4% to 拢2.5bn in the past year, even without a big sporting event like the World Cup to boost sales.
The top 10 carry-out beers are:
1 Stella 拢438.7m
2 Carling 拢200m
3 Foster's 拢158.2m
4 Budweiser 拢121.8m
5 Grolsch 拢110.4m
6 Kronenbourg 1664 拢83.1m
7 Carlsberg 拢80.1m
8 Beck's 拢65.6m
9 Carlsberg Export 拢60.7m
10 Tennent's 拢55m
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