By Andy Young
Lion has launched the second phase of its 'Beer the Beautiful Truth' campaign, which is designed to make consumers better informed about beer.
Following on from the addition of nutritional information panels to its bottles and packaging earlier this year, the campaign will now seek to bust common myths about beer and deliver facts.
Ben Slocombe, Lion's marketing director category and planning, told TheShout that the campaign is a long-term initiative and one the company plans to be running for some time.
"It's taken us about two years to get to the point that we're at now," Slocombe said. "So that's a lot of organisational effort and we see this as a long-term campaign, a long-term platform and we want to continue the conversation, years down the track with Australians. So it's not a short-term, one summer burst, this is a long-term conversation that we want to have. It's going to take some time for it to sink, for us to have this conversation and the believability of it to be explored by Australians. There are so many myths and incorrect facts that pervade, so it's a long-term job but one that we are committed to."
Slocombe added that the initiative will focus on two primary messages. "The first is that the Lion beers that comply with Beer the Beautiful Truth are on average 99.9 per cent sugar free. The second message is that the Lion beers are preservative free.
"During our research we found out that they were the two big things that Australians wanted to learn about with their beer. There are other points in terms of calories, carbohydrates and best enjoyed responsibly. So there are five claims, but the two that will lead in our advertising are 99.9 per cent sugar free on average and preservative free."
Slocombe also told TheShout that a lot of the advertising will be pointing people back to beerthebeautifultruth.com. "This is a website that we've built that showcases all of the information about the beers and has all the nutritional information about them. It's a transparent, go and explore website to find out more about the beers and what's in them. We're hoping a lot people visit that website and discover more.
"It's quite amazing for a beverage that is so broadly consumed, that there is such little knowledge about it. So hopefully we can address some of that and get people talking about beer again."
Speaking at the Liquor Marketing Group conference in Vancouver last month, Michelle Pelizzari, Lion's customer director of national independent banners, said the initiative will see a three-year investment from Lion, which will aim to educate, inform and change perceptions of beer among Australian adults.
“Research shows,” she said, “that if consumers know more about a category, they will spend more and the good news is that 93 per cent of beer drinkers say they want to know more about beer in store.”
Slocombe added: "We're very hopeful and very confident that this will be a good thing for the beer category and for our customers."
The second phase of the Beer the Beautiful Truth campaign starts today with outdoor advertising as well as adverts on digital and radio platforms.