Back in 2010 confident brand, Kronenbourg 1664 launched a TV ad featuring Motorhead star Lemmy in a bid to push them as the drink which has “rich flavour and provenance”.  Their branded YouTube channel has since been a place for discussion, a showcase for social media campaign’s and TV advertisements.

The new branded Kronenbourg is pitching the drink as the Slow the Pace drink with recent association with Dave Gorman’s Sunday show, a credible music environment and Sunday Leisure show.  According to a recent report from Marketing Week the brand’s strategy is to target men between the ages of 35 and 44, who listen to the show and consider music and entertainment to be a huge part of their lives! The brand has developed on air and online material to support the show…Are Kronenbourg targeting a niche audience and pushing away  potential consumers who do not fall within this age bracket?- YES…basically, if you are not into Motorhead or AC/DC then the drink is not for you!

Although Kronenbourg’s strategy is targeted to what they currently consider is their primary audience they are missing a trick in the long term.  With the website design being solely dedicated to social media, with links to Facebook and YouTube, they are assuming the target audience will be excited by the prospect of commenting on new adverts and discussing the music online, however statistics show that the largest percentage of users are aged between 17 and 24 in the UK, of which there are more female users than male.  This pattern is evident on a global scale.

This is reflected in Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach which focuses on brand positioning and although brands maybe positioned within a particular age/ social brand they are also reaching a wider audience and expanding their customer base (see chapter 6 for further details).   This is key to long term marketing strategies surely? Hopefully the strength of the brand and quality of the product itself will not agitate consumers who are not within the clearly specified age group…I say bring on some new indie bands for the next TV ad!

So far this year we have seen British pop drink Tizer revamp their brand, calling it ‘the great british pop’.  More recent marketing activity has shown a push towards a more healthy drink, with heavy emphasis on ‘no artificial colours’.  A press release from the brands holding company reports that, due to an increase in the low calorie drinks marketing, brands like IRN-BRU have decided to change the name in line with the markets demands.   With the launch of their recent marketing campaigns and redesigned website, Tizer are not only competing with soft drink brands Coca Cola, Pepsi and Sprite they are now pitching the brand as a sports associated drink.

The brands ownership company, AG Barr claims that this is to be the first energy drink targeted specifically for women.   Does this put Tizer more in a line with health associated energy drinks such as ‘Lucozade’ and ‘Britvic’? Yes…, Tizer’s new womens drink has been carefully branded (rockstar pink!) to target women who are full of energy and who live an active lifestyle.  This is portrayed really well and the message is conveyed in the packaging.

Lucozade’s brand is renowned for its association with sport whilst according to AG Barr’s head of marketing; it is Tizer’s new product mission to suit an array of occasions for women, from exercise to a girls night out.  Could this be considered as sending mixed messages to consumers?

Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach expose an interesting take on consumers who switch from one brand to another, this is referred to as ‘Other Brand Switchers’ (OBSs).  The chapter explores unfavourable OBSs, this reflects consumers who do not switch because of negative associations with a brand (chapter 4, page 83).  The question is that, would a woman who enjoys fitness want to drink this product after a workout when they are aware of its association with a night out…?