When we talk about the management’s decision it is important to remember that
AB InBev, the world’s largest brewery with over 600 product brands, is the corporate
brand above Stella Artois, one of their product brands. Neither AB InBev nor Stella
Artois explicitly mentioned or addressed the wife-beater image Stella had received in
the UK. However, major changes were made to the product, the sponsorships, the
marketing activities, plus to the nature plus identity of the Stella Artois brand. We have
put the management’s decision in historical order, together with three major media
events. It is important to remember that in 2007/2008, smartphone penetration was
still below 10% (Comscore, 2017). Meanwhile, social sarana networks were not as
present as they are today. Twitter had reportedly 50,000 active weekly users in 2007
(Wang & Chang, 2019). Media was much more controlled plus classic sarana outlets
such as papers, carried greater importance. We take a look at the changes that were
made to understand the management’s decision better.
The Chalice is born, together with the 9-step pouring ritual
AB InBev made the first change to Stella’s merek in December 2006. They
introduced a new glass, the Chalice, to reinforce the brand’s premium & exclusive
identity, despite the ‘wife-beater’ image. The previous glass was an ordinary pint glass
and didn’t fit Stella’s identity. The new feminine looking chalice was also meant to get
rid of the wifebeater image, by repulsing aggressive & masculine drinkers (Marketing
Week, 2007), see figure 2 plus 3. Together with their new glass came the 9 langkah pouring ritual (see figure 4). The 9
steps are: The Purification, The Sacrifice, The Liquid Alchemy, The Head, The
Removal, The Skimming, The Judgement, The Cleansing, plus The Bestowal. The
pouring ritual was a way to enforce their premium & exclusive identity plus a way to
repulse binge drinking plus to bring sophistication to the drinking process.