E-Malt.com News article: Vietnam: SABMiller to introduce Miller High Life to Vietnam

SABMiller is to introduce its Miller High Life brand to the Vietnamese consumers, The New York Times communicated on August, 20.

A campaign scheduled to begin on August, 21 carries the theme “It’s American time, it’s Miller time.”

The campaign — which is to include ads on television, in print, outdoors and online as well as promotions — is based on a popular campaign for Miller High Life in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, known as “Miller time” and “Welcome to Miller time.”

The addition to the slogan of the phrase “It’s American time” reflects the increasing appeal in Vietnam of products that originate in the United States.

“Research among the Vietnamese found that “an American brand means quality,” Sally Brophy, president for marketing at SABMiller Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, said.

“There’s an inherent ease of life and joy” that the Vietnamese see in the United States, Ms Brophy added.

All that may surprise older Americans with memories of the Vietnam War, which is often referred to as “the American War” in Vietnam. But Vietnam has a median age estimated at 25, meaning the war is something most know only from history books.

“Vietnam is a very young and growing country, population-wise, economy-wise,” said Ms. Brophy, who joined SABMiller there earlier this year.

“There’s almost no negative to America,” she added. “They’ve moved on.”

As SABMiller decided to add one of its mainstay brands to its line-up in Vietnam, which until now has been composed of a local brew, Zorok, Miller High Life was selected, Ms. Brophy said.

“It’s refreshing, easy to drink, and it’s very hot here,” she explained. And the brand’s clear bottle contrasts with the many beers sold in Vietnam in brown bottles, she added.

One big difference between Miller High Life in Vietnam and its home country is pricing. In Vietnam, it will be “premium priced” at the equivalent of about a dollar a bottle, Ms. Brophy said, compared with about 50 cents a bottle for local brands.

In the United States, Miller High Life was a premium brand for decades, priced the same as beers like Budweiser or Miller Lite. But after years of sales declines, it was repriced below them as a so-called subpremium brew.

Since the recession began, however, Miller High Life sales in America have been growing again as beer drinkers trade down from higher-priced brands.


21 August, 2009