Asahi backs Belgian ales

In turn, the Tokyo-based company is reportedly hoping to use InBev’s international reach to increase sales of its flagship Super Dry brand abroad.

But observers have suggested that the move will be unlikely to make a significant impact in a market already saturated with a dizzying array of high quality domestic beer brands produced by the likes of Asahi, Sapporo, Kirin and Suntory.

“It will be an uphill struggle,” said John Goodman, president of Ogilvy & Mather Japan, noting that while certain imported brands had a level of distribution in Japan, a “constant stream of innovation” from domestic breweries made it extremely difficult to compete for the already cramped space in supermarkets and convenience stores.

Goodman added, however, that imported brands were able to establish a presence in specialist retailers and bars, citing Guinness as a successful niche product.

He said that although brands such as Stella Artois were unlikely to achieve high volume sales in Japan, Asahi had “nothing to lose” through the initiative.

“Asahi is always looking for something new, and is prepared to accept a reasonable number of brand failures,” he said, pointing out that the move was likely to have been made with long-term brand building rather than instant profit in mind.

As well as jostling for market share with homegrown premium brands, foreign labels in Japan also face competition from happoshu, or ‘sparkling spirits’ - a low cost beer substitute that, while resembling and tasting like beer, avoids the country’s high beer tax by having malt content of under 25 per cent.

Asahi’s announcement came as rival Sapporo rolls out a new campaign for one such brand, Hokkaido Nama-shibori Migakimugi. Developed by Wieden & Kennedy Tokyo, the campaign aims to highlight the product’s recent refinement by casting popular  comedienne Edo Harumi as a housewife who wins an audition to land a role as the drink’s representative. The TV and radio spots feature Edo proudly telling her husband the good news.

A spokesperson for the agency said the push, which targets consumers in their 30s and 40s, went against the grain of typical Japanese beer promotions, which often feature attractive young women as ‘image girls’ for the brand. To arouse curiosity, an online countdown to the campaign launch invited the public to deduce Edo’s identity as the brand’s new face.

Noting her popularity among the target audience, the spokesperson said Edo’s presence made the drink “more accessible and desirable as a brand of choice” for home consumption.