No
Chris Ambler, Managing director, WARL Group
One hundred years ago, I was on the team that launched Foster's lager in the UK. Paul Hogan spoke eloquently in fluent Australian about how Foster's had a taste 'like an angel crying on your tongue' as he drank the 'amber nectar'.
Only one discordant note disturbed this antipodean fantasy: a super in the final shot stating 'brewed in the UK'. It didn't create too much discord - and Foster's became one of the UK's top-selling lagers.
Although we now live in more cynical, better-informed times, isn't lager still about sociability, fun, and the drinker's experience rather than the drink? The outstanding exception to the rule was, of course, Stella Artois where ingredients were at the heart of the 'reassuringly expensive' proposition, until it moved toward - wait for it - drinkers and humour.
So, in short, no. Experience would indicate that lager drinkers gravitate to brands that make them feel good about themselves or simply entertain them. So good luck, Carling, with 'local provenance'.
No
David Haseler, Strategy director, Smith & Milton
Imagine a scene of two lads at the pub, watching the footie.
Darren: Av' you 'erd that Carling only uses British barley?
Jimmy: Wot?
Darren: You know. Locally sourced quality products from small farm holdings. Everyone's at it these days, like St Edmond's Valley organic free-trade pork belly scratchings.
Jimmy: Wot?
Darren: It reduces food miles.
Jimmy: So wot?!
Lager. The UK's favourite pint. But for how much longer?
Beer sales are in decline. Internat-ional players and imported premium brands dominate the market. Small wonder the marketing team at Carling knew it had to do something.
But, Carling is a session lager - it's cheap and it's weak, so lads can drink lots of it, without a care for ingredients, preservatives, or e numbers, let alone the provenance of the barley.
The real story for Carling is that it is the one and only great British lager. Forget this middle-class obsession with provenance and get back to your roots.
No
Will Ghali, Marketing director, Cobra Beer
No. From our research among consumers, provenance does not register among the important factors that influence lager consumers' brand choices. The two factors we found to be most important were taste and quality.
Others considered important were things such as brand image (something you'd like to be seen drinking), drinkability and how refreshing the lager is.
While it is true that discerning consumers, who tend to favour imported or 'world beers' are now more knowledgeable about the products they buy, provenance is still very much a secondary factor in influencing consumers in the lager brands they drink. My assumption is that provenance would be even less of a consideration for consumers when shopping for standard lagers such as Carling.
Provenance does play an important role as an influencer for other categories such as premium fruit juice and food brands. The reason for the disparity is that the target consumer is generally older and female - different from the average lager drinker.
Maybe
Chris Warren, Managing director, TMW
It's fascinating to see Carling evolve its 'British Barley' strategy and look to take it down to a regional level. At brand level, there could be mileage for it, but I can't help wondering whether the local ingredients story will be enough to get drinkers off their couches and back to their local pub for a drink.
Carling must have consciously chosen not to build on its existing connection with UK men's number-one passion, football. Over the years, Carling has invested millions of pounds in football, and it seems strange that it would not use that strong connect-ion to drive punters back into pubs.
Guinness, too, has publicly voiced its support for the British pub, but it has chosen to amplify its existing investment in rugby.
It will be interesting to see whether provenance wins out over the beautiful game for Carling.