AUSTRALIA: Foster’s to stoke the home fires

Foster's Lager, the Australian brew, the UK's second largest selling beer and the sixth largest selling imported beer in the US, has been re-launched in its home market where sales have been languishing.Despite international sales of 100m cases a year, Foster's Lager has suffered a massive slump in Australia in the past decade, falling from 17% market share in the late 1980s to a mere 1.7% today, lagging well behind market leader, Foster's Victoria Bitter (VB) which commands a 27% market share.Foster's sponsorship of the Sydney Olympic Games, starting in a fortnight, is being used to back the re-launch, which is targeted at 18-30 year-olds.'We aim to focus the appeal of Foster's on a new generation of consumers,' said Paul Kennedy, Vice president of Marketing for Foster's Australian arm, Carlton & United Breweries.He said that young drinkers were believed to be receptive to Foster's international credentials and its heritage - it was first brewed in 1888.The neck label would carry the words 'export quality' and the tag-line 'Australia's classic lager since 1888'.Promotion, which began last weekend with a multi-media advertising campaign, is taking in Australia's biggest sporting season - last weekend's and this weekend's national football finals, the Olympic Games, the Melbourne Cup horse race and international cricket.Foster's aim with the beer, which is packaged in 355ml long neck bottles, is to claw market share from Toohey's Extra Dry, one of the products that helped Lion Nathan take half a percentage point from Foster's overall market share in 1999-2000.