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From Angel to Devil:
Is Heineken Premium Light's Halo Cannibalizing Heineken?
July 25,
2007 - With the introduction of Heineken Premium Light (HPL), Heineken’s
aim was to capitalize on the growth of the light beer market. While some
industry pundits warned of the possibility of HPL taking market share
from Amstel Light, others theorized that with the rapid growth of the
high-end beer market, HPL would be a great alternative for light beer
drinkers looking to trade up.
Reviewing the New York Home D market’s first quarter of 2007, HPL
performed much as the industry expected with very respectable case share
gains month after month. And while Heineken was benefiting from HPL's
halo, Amstel Light was also doing well with double digit case share
increases.
Now, fast forward to the end of the second quarter of 2007 where a new
trend seems to be emerging. HPL continues to show respectable gains and
even surpasses Amstel Light in case share. Heineken also continues to
show case share increases. However, by July 4th week, Heineken drops
almost .61 points – more than HPL’s gain of .47 points.
And for the 2 week period ending July 14, HPL increases .41 points while
Heineken drops .47 points. Considering Coors Light had an increase of
2.36 points and Bud Light was up .54 points, it’s possible that HPL is
not taking share from other light beers including Amstel, but actually
cannibalizing Heineken instead. It will be interesting to watch how
this turns out. Stay tuned…
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Coors is the Big Winner for July 4th
Home D Market Widely Differs from Supermarkets
July 25,
2007 - For the 2 week period incorporating the July 4th holiday and
ending July 14, Coors Brewing Company gained more than 2 points in the
New York Home D market. Most of this gain can be attributed to Coors
Light, the best-selling light beer in this market, which managed to
increase case share by more than 2.3 points.
Anheuser-Busch also came in with respectable gains for the period. Case
share increase for all brands combined totaled over 1.1 points.
Increased share by Bud, Bud Light and Natural were responsible for most
of the gains and helped to offset the almost seven-tenths of a point
loss by Michelob.
Unfortunately, Miller Brewing Company did not fair as well for the
holiday period. Miller Lite continued its steady decline with a case
share loss of more than two-tenths of a point, while Miller brands
overall had a one-tenth of a point loss in case share.
Interestingly, when looking at the supermarket data for a similar time
period, an entirely different picture emerges. According to Nielsen,
Miller and Coors were the big winners showing more modest gains, while
the loser in the supermarkets was A-B which could not recover from case
share losses by Bud and Bud Select.
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Is A-B's Pricing Strategy Proving Effective in the Home D Market?
July 10,
2007 - Looking at the YTD period ending June 30, several of Anheuser
Busch's brands show significant share increase in the Home Distributor
market. However, drilling further down into the 2 week and 4 week
periods ending June 30 reveals A-B's case share gains in these brands
are retreating from their initial highs and in some cases A-B is losing
share.
While Bud Light saw its YTD case share increase by more than 15% as of
June 30, the case share increase for the 2 week period ending June 30
was less than 6.5%. In comparison, Coors Light is seeing the reverse
trend with a 6.5% case share increase YTD, a more than 16% case share
increase for the 4 weeks ending June 30, and an almost 19% case share
increase for the 2 weeks ending June 30.
Earlier in the year, it appeared that A-B's pricing strategy was helping
to make in-roads toward reducing the nearly 2 to1 case share gap between
Coors Light and Bud Light. However, if the current trend continues, any
gains will surely be eroded.
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Summer 2007 Is a Boon for Light Beer
July 10, 2007- Big doings can be seen in the Home Distributor's light beer
category this summer. In fact, tracking this category is very much like
watching a horse race. And they're off…
Coors Light, while initially giving up some case share to its main rival,
Bud Light, in the earlier part of 2007, seems to be heading right back
towards reclaiming its 2 to 1 share ratio. Meanwhile, Miller Lite maintains
its number 3 position, all the while consistently losing market share.
Heineken Light, the turtle in the race, has quietly surpassed Amstel Light
to take the #4 position for the 2 week period ending June 30. If Heineken
Light and Miller Lite continue their current trends, it's possible that the
two shall meet by summer's end. Another turtle has been Corona Light,
quietly gaining market share to surpass Keystone Light for the 2 week period
ending June 30.
Although both Busch Light and Heineken Light had similar case share
increases for the 4 week period ending June 30, the recent 2 week period
showed those increases slowing measurably for Busch Light.
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