Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own - Ben Sweetland

The news that Heineken have cut their advertising spend and are focusing more on sponsorship and POS displays has been doing the rounds over the last week.

I thought I’d point out the sponsorship activity of another beer label though that really highlights the benefit of sponsorship, especially when you don’t have as much money to spend as Heineken or Budweiser.

Tiger Beer is a label that is trying to compete with the likes of Corona, Erdinger, Budvar and home brewed lagers. It’s targeted at ABC1 consumers who are looking for a better experience from life and are typically more culturally aware than the common consumer.

I’ve noticed a couple of their sponsorships in recent months and it just goes to show that I can recall their sponsorships over most of their competitors activities. Tiger sponsor the Asia Extreme film festival, the Dublin Electronics Arts Festival and Writers Block in Hogans Pub. These niche sponsorships are a great way to pursue a strategy of micro-targeting because it resonates with the intended audience.

As further legislation comes into place restricting sports sponsorship, the big labels like Budweiser and Heineken will have to try and replicate this on a bigger scale. They could buy the smaller brands out of their existing sponsorships, but then they’d be targeting the completely wrong audience, thus reinforcing the brand negativity that exists towards them from that quarter.

Technorati Tags: Budweiser, Heineken, Piaras Kelly, Sponsorship, Tiger Beer