Newcastle Brown Ale (NBA) was the largest alcoholic drink in the UK in the 1990s and by 2000 the majority of its sales were in America. NBA broke the US by targeting the increase in Anglo/Irish bars, and as Richard Fletcher says in The Journal, ‘NBA was a dark beer and it tapped a niche in the US market.’[1] This shows the difference in the market, in the UK, the beer was seen and promoted as a working man’s drink, whereas in the US it was a much more niche market. Andy Pike said in Transactions of the institute of British Geographers, ‘Geographical entanglements in the place of Newcastle are evident in NBA’s origins.’[2] However there’s also evidence to prove that the brands connection to the North East resides very little with the US, a staff member of NBA said, ‘The Americans couldn’t give a shit if it was brewed in Sunderland, Gateshead, wherever it is…they want English beer.’[3] The US cared more about the ‘Imported from England’ label. NBA’s advertising in the US have been a major selling point, the blue five point star became iconic and more recently the ‘No Bollocks’ campaign. Buzzfeed said recently ‘the campaign is especially brilliant when placed side by side with the bad, base beer advertising of America’s big spenders – Budweiser.’[4] Its recent ‘fake’ Super Bowl advert allowed the brand to tap into the Super Bowl advertising phenomenon at very little cost. The brand had to find a niche in the biggest market in the world and change its advertising strategy to compete. The beer still sells 100 million bottles in the UK each year with very little advertising however the brand had to change its strategy for America.
[1] “How Newcastle Brown Ale earned its stripes in America,” The Journal, accessed February 15th, 2014, http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/how-newcastle-brown-ale-earned-4400775
[2] Andy Pike, “Placing Brands and Branding: a socio-spatial biography of Newcastle Brown Ale” Transactions of The Institute of British Geographers, Vol.36, No. 2 (2011), pp. 206-22
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Best Beer Advertising in The World,” Buzzfeed, accessed February 15th, 2014, http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-best-beer-advertising-in-the-world-right-now
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