No doubt, Guinness Stout has enjoyed and still enjoying market dominance for many decades in the country. In fact, many people presently patronizing it in the country today grew up to meet the brand as the indisputable leader of the stout drinks in Nigeria. This is so pronounced that the name Guinness has become synonymous with Stout drink.
Trophy beer has over the years struggled hard to elbow out other beer brands to clinch a kingly space on the drinking tables across major bars from urban to rural settlements especially in the South West geopolitical zone of the country. So, in the comity of green bottle beers, Trophy has arguably maintained an impressive leadership slot.
However, in their bid to soar higher in the alcoholic drinking space by going for brand extension, both Guinness and Trophy grossly goofed by introducing Guinness Gold and Trophy Stout respectively.
Perhaps, the two brands had forgotten the sordid story of Gulder Max, which was introduced by the Nigerian Breweries (NB) in a brand extension of its premium beer brand, Gulder. Many drinkers had wondered if it is possible to have a ‘maximum man’ since Gulder stands for the drink of men. Within a short while the newly introduced brand fizzled out of the beer drinking firmament, and has never returned.
Guinness Stout being an iconic stout brand is topnotch like gold in the market of precious stones, and so to think of another gold in a Guinness Gold seems an impossible. Mere mentioning Guinness already has stout included in the mind of people, because stout has been ascribed to be an area of specialization that Guinness has occupied a clear lead for many decades.
So, when on March 15, 2019, Guinness came out with Guinness Gold, a brand new premium Golden Lager beer.
Guinness Gold was touted to bring a rich, amber gold, great flavour and great taste to discerning Nigerians who expect more from their lager beer experience.
Pride to have the infusion of crystal malt and amber malt, Guinness Gold was said to have a depth of flavour that no other lager beer anywhere could lay claim to. Crucially, the use of the same Guinness yeast as the iconic Guinness stout ensures that the Guinness Gold drinker enjoys the fruity flavours while savouring the new brand.
Marketing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc., Adenike Adebola, had explained that “We are thrilled to see the great interest in Guinness Gold that has trailed our pre-launch activities. As you will agree, we too are passionate about celebrating life’s golden moments. It is why we redesigned our brewery gate and lit up our buildings in celebration of the launch of this truly extraordinary lager beer. We welcome you to enjoy the bold flavours that you expect from Guinness with Guinness Gold. I can’t wait to see you savour the flavour of Guinness Gold.”
Despite Adebola’s impressive remark about Guinness Gold, the seemingly exciting new product from Guinness Nigeria Plc. created to improve the lager beer drinking experience for discerning Nigerians did not meet the boardroom benchmark for its market reach. It grossly failed in competing with other beer brands like Star, Gulder, 33, Goldberg and Trophy.
Though Guinness Gold, the new premium lager beer, thrilled celebrities, media icons, media influencers and consumers as they were treated to a one-of-a-kind immersion, yet the brand seemed to end at the hall where its launch was held.
Notwithstanding the verve that was accorded its launching, Guinness Gold boasted to be packed full of depth and character, making it ideal for those looking for more from their beer drinking experience, the brand did not enjoy such place of prominence in the market contrary to what was envisaged.
Also came to the drinking space is Trophy Extra Stout from the stable of a brewery that has carved an interesting niche for itself in brewing lager beer in which its Trophy Beer enjoys teeming lovers from the South West villages to the cities.
Like Guinness Gold which failed in its signature to foray into ‘beering’, Trophy Extra Stout also failed in its bid to join the league of ‘stouting’.
Trophy brought Tuface Idibia, an Afro Hiphop singer, in a grand launch of Trophy Stout just to gain great entry into the market, yet the pomp and pageantry given to its coming could not maintain the same crescendo in the market.
For the International Brewery Plc., the journey to the production of Trophy Stout started after it noticed a gap in the stout segment of the beer market, and buoyed by feedbacks from consumers through series of studies and observation saw the need to disrupt the stout market.
However, Trophy Stout berthed as a brand extension of the highly successful Trophy Lager beer, did not fly at least not as high as envisaged before its market introduction.
Introduced to the market while the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic forced government to restrict movement through an e-concert, an ingenious way of beating the restriction ordered by the law.
Brand extension is a marketing drive by major manufacturers to use their successful and existing brands as launch-pad for introducing new ones. By doing so, the new brand would leverage on the acceptance and popularity of older to gain its own acceptance too.
While Guinness Nigeria Plc. might have forgotten its failed adventure when it introduced Harp Lemon as a brand extension of its lager beer brand, Harp; repeating same weak move and poor market understanding through the Guinness Gold appears a good luck pushed to the extreme.
Trophy too should have remained contented with its thrilling story surrounding Trophy lager beer and desist from bordering itself venturing to stout making. Brand extension is a desired growth but should not be done at the detriment of the winning brands.
