Y&R scooped the business following a six-way pitch that also included Leo Burnett, Kastner & Partners, Minerva, Fallon and incumbent M&C Saatchi London's Immediate Sales Company (www.media. com.hk May 13).
The company is launching Tiger Beer UK (TUK) as a new entity to oversee sales and marketing in the UK and Europe, and has relocated Bennett Neo to helm the operation as managing director. According to Neo, key objectives for Y&R will be to elevate Tiger's premium UK brand positioning, which represents a sharp divergence from its everyman appeal in Singapore.
The company is launching Tiger Beer UK (TUK) as a new entity to oversee sales and marketing in the UK and Europe, and has relocated Bennett Neo to helm the operation as managing director. According to Neo, key objectives for Y&R will be to elevate Tiger's premium UK brand positioning, which represents a sharp divergence from its everyman appeal in Singapore.
"Having established itself as an authentic premium beer from the Far East, the goal for Tiger Beer and the new agency is to revitalise the Tiger brand, making it the fashionable and cool beer brand among the top echelon of consumers in UK," explained Neo.
Y&R worked in conjunction with UK creative media consultancy Naked on the win, which Asia-Pacific CEO Chris Jaques attributed to "some great ideas that will create an exciting market position for the brand in Western markets".
At a recent Marketing Council Asia seminar in Singapore, APB group commercial director Les Buckley detailed Tiger's successful growth in the UK, where it has cultivated a niche 'Asian cool' personality -- spurring sales growth of over 50 per cent per year. "We wanted to be 'the beer of Asia', fast forward into the future," explained Buckley. "The challenge we have now in the UK is growing from niche to a larger niche."
The UK brand positioning has, notably, avoided the football relationship that has proved successful in Asia, opting for more edgy vehicles such as nightclub events, Asian film festivals and upmarket magazines. In return, Tiger has won an array of beer awards, including FHM Beer of the Year 2004.
"One of the factors for Tiger Beer's success thus far is its ability to appeal to discerning beer drinkers with its Far Eastern mystique and a true modern Asian spirit," noted Neo. "Tiger will thus continue to align itself with the Asian heritage by providing engaging and apt consumer experiences such as bringing the best of Asian films to the UK consumers in arcane underground venues."
