New Steinlager edges out the competition

New Zealanders have embraced the newest addition to the Steinlager family – Steinlager Edge – the country’s first full flavoured, mid-strength beer.

Steinlager Edge sold more than five times as many twelve-packs in its first two weeks on the market than a recently launched competitor beer over the same time period.*

Beer Marketing Director from Lion Nathan, Stephen Smith, comments, “It’s early days, but all of the signs are indicating that Steinlager Edge is heading towards stellar success. We were confident that the iconic status of Steinlager offered the right path for our first mid-strength beer, and Kiwi’s have quickly shown us that they were ready for a mid-strength beer that tastes great.”

Mid-strength beer is a relatively new concept for New Zealanders, but within just five days of launching, Steinlager Edge appeared on the shelves of 95.4% of all good liquor stores and supermarkets throughout the country. Weighted distribution on this scale would typically take four to six weeks for popular brands, with many brands never achieving this level of market penetration.

New Zealanders will also notice Steinlager Edge throughout bars nationwide, with 410 bar taps installed already.

Steinlager Edge has been launched with a solid investment in media of $1.55m. The TVC takes viewers on a journey through a busy day in the life of a young Kiwi, who manages to pack his day full of activities, starting with walking his dog, work, meetings, lunch, exercise and ending with a game of pool and a few bottles of Steinlager Edge with his mates.

"From what we are seeing, consumers are totally on board with the mid-strength concept.” says Smith. “They know it's a great choice over lunch, or after work but also when they're out for the night they can enjoy a few beers without having to worry about it restricting them the next day".

In keeping with the local theme, Joey Sensation, a new band made up of two members of Goodnight Nurse, composed the soundtrack specifically for the TVC.

The media campaign also includes print executions, depicting all of the objects used in a full and balanced life. The creative will feature in print, billboards and bus-backs until the end of September.

* 155,000 twelve-packs of Steinlager Edge were sold.

you can view the TVC here -
http://www.steinlager.co.nz/Heritage/Television-Commercial.aspx