Belgian Brewers launch first-ever national campaign

For the first time ever, Belgian brewers have decided to launch an advertising campaign to promote all Belgian beers together. Yesterday in Brussels, the Belgian Brewers association presented its campaign slogan – Fier op ons bier (Proud of Our Beer) – and three TV ads, in which foreigners profess their love of Belgian beer.

In two of the ads, we hear from young women in China and Paris who have opened Belgian beer cafes. In the third, an American chef talks about cooking with and serving Belgian beers in his restaurant in Maine.

Foreigners may love it in no uncertain terms, but Belgians love to drink it less and less. The campaign is in part inspired by the continuing fall in the volumes of beer being consumed inside the country – from 100 litres each on average in 1992 to a mere 74 litres each in 2012.

It’s mostly pils that are seeing sales drop; speciality beers are on the increase. Pils brews, however, are often the core business of brewers of speciality beers. “Belgian beer in the rest of the world is considered a luxury product, but here in Belgium it’s become a bit ordinary,” said Sven Gatz, director of the Belgian Brewers. “We’d like to communicate that love and that passion that others have for our beer to the Belgians, too.”

Gatz denied his federation was encouraging alcohol abuse, following a study earlier in the week which showed one in two Flemish students drinks too much. “Of course not,” he said. “For years we’ve been encouraging the moderate use of alcohol, and we’re certainly not interested in creating a shrinking group of people who drink more; we want to see more people drinking moderately.”

Yesterday’s campaign was in fact being launched for the second time. A first campaign last October was shelved after it descended into controversy for the same reason, particularly as the holiday season was on the way, traditionally a peak time for consumption.

The new campaign has the support of the Flemish government’s marketing agency Vlam and can be viewed on YouTube.

Nanjing: http://youtu.be/2vcTA2KEvks

Paris: http://youtu.be/pYpPHpThdQg

Maine: http://youtu.be/J6lMpBb7yIE