Warsteiner

Doing things right

Whatever you do, do it right. That’s the message promoted by leading German brewer Warsteiner, and with a history dating back over 260 years it is a company that clearly practices what it preaches

To say that beer is a part of Germany’s history and its culture is probably an understatement. Using only four ingredients, hops, barley, yeast and water, German brewers have managed to create over 5500 brands of beer, and one company that represents the best of German brewing culture is Warsteiner.

With its unparalleled heritage, which dates back to 1753, this ninth-generation family-owned company is one of the largest privately held breweries in Germany today. Its flagship is the Warsteiner brand, brewed in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park, outside of Warstein, North-Rhine Westphalia, which is recognised globally as being one of Germany’s leading premium pilsener brands. “Warsteiner Premium Beer is the core brand in our product portfolio and drives our incremental sales, particularly in the UK, Italy and China, and together with our Bavarian wheat beer, König Ludwig, it represents our main focus,” begins Alexander Arsene, International General Manager of the Warsteiner group.

International reach
In the beer speciality segment, the König Ludwig beers are increasingly gaining in strategic importance and are helping to add excellent volume to the company’s total growth. Another specialty of the company is its popular Warsteiner Winter offering, a seasonal beer with a rich, copper-red colour, full-bodied malty taste and subtle hoppy bitterness that is particularly enjoyed in the Netherlands and France. In more recent years, the company has also added several new products, including Warsteiner Double Hopped, twice hopped with premium Hallertau hops, for the Canadian and Russian markets. As you will probably have gathered, the Warsteiner brand is very much a global brand with significant awareness in many international markets, reaching out across Europe and into North and Latin America, China and beyond. “Our international efforts continue to focus on our core markets in Italy, the Netherlands and the United States, as well as on future markets within the UK and Spain,” Alexander continues. “By paying careful attention to specific local requirements and demands, and by introducing popular seasonal beers we continue to bring our award-winning products to discerning consumers around the world. “The big drivers in our push for brand awareness and growth are the high-quality ingredients used within our products, as well as our meticulous attention to detail. This commitment to quality has been rewarded on countless occasions with numerous awards won at top-tier beer competitions across the globe. In 2017 alone, Warsteiner products took home top prizes in multiple categories at both the 2017 International Beer Awards and the 2017 World Beer Awards.”

True Togetherness
Alexander and the rest of the Warsteiner team were particularly proud to have been presented with the Country Winner award at the 2017 World Beer Awards for its Warsteiner Fresh product, a pale golden, non-alcoholic pilsener beer. “It was the authentic beer taste of Warsteiner Fresh that convinced the panel of experts who judged more than 1900 beers from 36 countries to select our product,” he enthuses. “With the non-alcoholic segment growing stronger than ever before, this has been the perfect addition to our portfolio. While being 100 per cent non-alcoholic, our careful de-alcoholisation process means that we are able to preserve its authentic, satisfying beer taste.”

It has long been the belief of Warsteiner that the exceptional taste and quality of its beers help to create a feeling of ‘True Togetherness’ amongst its consumers, one that promotes feeling relaxed, at ease and connected with others. It is this belief that the company is now actively promoting with its ‘Difference in the detail’ campaign. “Aimed at increasing brand awareness and relevance in competitive markets, this campaign was successfully launched across television, social media, and digital and outdoor advertisements in the Netherlands in 2017, and in the UK and Italy in 2018,” Alexander explains. “Built on the same strategy as our national campaign in Germany, it emphasises our authenticity as a unique differentiator in what is a competitive global market by highlighting product-specific qualities and our long-standing family legacy.”

Building the brand
The campaign has also proven to be the Launchpad for the first ‘Facebook Live Format’ for a global beer brand in the UK, ‘#Warsteiner 1753 – The Meet-up’, which is broadcast monthly on the company’s UK Facebook page. “With a nod to the year that we were founded, the 20-minute live broadcast begins at 17:53 GMT with an interactive show staged at the iconic music venue ‘Band on the Wall’ in Manchester,” Alexander adds. “The show’s entertaining mix of live music, interactive challenges and competitions such as the ‘Perfect Pour’ reached more than 5.8 million people in 2017, and we hope to grow this audience further still in 2018.”

The remainder of 2018 will also see the company focus on achieving a strong, step-by-step growth trajectory in terms of revenue, while further developing its market presence in Italy and France, and continuing to leverage the momentum it has in the UK as brewers of the leading premium German pilsener. “Our marketing activities for 2018, which will include the launch of a limited-edition can to coincide with the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, will focus on building brand awareness through customer-orientated trade marketing, eye-catching limited-edition product additions, and promotions with high-value prizes, such as a personalised premium beer garden for a customer’s backyard,” Alexander says. “At the same time, social media and digital platforms continue to provide us with momentum worldwide, giving us a unique platform to promote our portfolio in exciting new ways.”