21 November 2008

Lion set to slake a hard-bought thirst

AUSTRALIA'S long-running beer wars is set to intensify with news that Lion Nathan has increased its marketing budget to give it a head start on rivals, defying trends by other marketers to slash spending.

In the three months to the end of September, Lion pumped an extra $6 million in marketing behind the launch of its mainstream low-carb beer, Toohey's White Stag, a new campaign for XXXX Gold, the rebranding of Boag's and the launch of its Natural Beer Promise, promising certain beers are brewed using only natural ingredients and free from artificial additives.

The company also revealed that "innovations" such as Barefoot Radler and low-carb beers such as Hahn Super Dry and Boag's Classic Blonde now account for 10 per cent of sales.

Full Story