No. 38: 競争は非情 (January 4, 2010)
凝った名前のビールが広告業界の目玉となっていると思ったら、新年早々、アサヒビールがデンマークのカールスバーグと海外販売で提携すると発表した。どんなに内需を拡大しても、アルコールを飲まない消費者にビールを飲ますことはできない。凝った名前の新ブランドを導入しても、ブランドスイッチが起きるだけで、全体の販売量が伸びないのは自明の理である。もう、国内市場でシェア争いをしている時代ではない。かつて地ビールがもてはやされた時代があった。ブームにのって、ご当地ビールが次々と発売されたが、遠い過去の出来事になってしまった。どんなに情緒的になっても、戦いは非情である。強いものが勝ち、弱いものは負ける。そして、フラッグシップを持たない企業は淘汰されていく。日本人にしか理解できない、日本語の微妙なニュアンスを含むブランド名を考えるよりも、世界に通用するブランド名で、世界市場で陣地を広げるのが理にかなった戦略である。 (Written by Shigeo Sunahara of CBC, Inc.)
Beers carrying an elaborate name have been dominant in the advertising industry lately. However, Asahi Breweries has shown a new direction by announcing that it concluded an agreement with Carlsberg of Denmark to ally on sales in the foreign market. It is totally impossible to let consumers who dislike alcohol drink beer however hard the government tries to expand the domestic consumption. It is obvious that introducing new brands carrying fancy names ends in brand switching, and total sales remains the same. It is no longer the days to complete for share in the domestic market. There used to be the days when local beers were put on the market one after another. Taking advantage of the boom, many municipalities introduced local beers, few of which are on the market now. Competition is always ruthless how much consumers place an emotional aspect on it. The strong wins, and the weak loses. No company can survive in the market without a flagship. Instead of creating a brand name based on a subtle nuance of the Japanese language intelligible only to the Japanese people, it should be an ideal strategy to increase the presence of a product carrying a globally acceptable brand name in the world market.
Beers carrying an elaborate name have been dominant in the advertising industry lately. However, Asahi Breweries has shown a new direction by announcing that it concluded an agreement with Carlsberg of Denmark to ally on sales in the foreign market. It is totally impossible to let consumers who dislike alcohol drink beer however hard the government tries to expand the domestic consumption. It is obvious that introducing new brands carrying fancy names ends in brand switching, and total sales remains the same. It is no longer the days to complete for share in the domestic market. There used to be the days when local beers were put on the market one after another. Taking advantage of the boom, many municipalities introduced local beers, few of which are on the market now. Competition is always ruthless how much consumers place an emotional aspect on it. The strong wins, and the weak loses. No company can survive in the market without a flagship. Instead of creating a brand name based on a subtle nuance of the Japanese language intelligible only to the Japanese people, it should be an ideal strategy to increase the presence of a product carrying a globally acceptable brand name in the world market.
