Stella Artois – the global branding.doc

Stella Artois – the global branding In the 1990s, the world beer market was growing at an annual rate of one to two per cent. In 1998, beer consumption reached a total of 1.3 billion hectolitres (hls). However, there were great regional differences in both market size and growth rates. Most industry analysts split the world market for beer between growth and mature markets. The mature markets were generally considered to be North America, Western Europe and Australasia. The growth markets included Latin America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe including Russia. There was an?obvious?question?that the world beer industry was relatively fragmented with the top four players accounting for only 22 per cent of global volume — a relatively low figure as compared to 78 per cent in the soft drinks industry, 60 per cent in tobacco and 44 per cent in spirits. That means great opportunities for consolidation. The driver behind industry rationalization was the need to achieve economies of scale in production, advertising and distribution. As we all know, the Interbrew - one of the largest beer companies in the world. How did it get succeed and become the global corporation? Introduction: In 1717, when it was purchased by its master brewer, Sebastiaan Artois, the brewery changed its name to Artois. The firm’s expansion began when Artois acquired a major interest in the Leffe Brewery in Belgium in 1954, the Dommelsch Brewery in the Netherlands in 1968, and the Brassiere du Nord in France in 1970. In 1987, when Artois and another Belgian brewery called Piedboeuf came together, the merged company was named Interbrew. The new company soon acquired other Belgian specialty beer brewers, building up the Interbrew brand portfolio with the purchase of the Hoegaarden brewery in 1989 and the Belle-Vue Brewery in 1990. Interbrew entered into a phase of rapid growth at this time. On the way of acquisitions, The Company acquired competitive enterprises and high – quality brand in the other