Anheuser-Busch: sluggish beer sales seek a caffeine hit

Anheuser-Busch has taken a fresh slant on product development with the launch of a new energy-packed malt alternative to beer, Tilt. Targeted at young males in search of an energy boost during after-work drinks, the product should provide an effective response to the company's falling beer sales and raise the bar for premium product development.

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Foster's: no hangover from Southcorp struggle

Foster's has posted an encouraging increase in its FY2005 profits, suggesting its integration of Southcorp is proceeding smoothly. Southcorp is set to play a critical role in the group's future development, giving it essential global reach in the wine market. Though renowned for brewing 'Australia's famous beer', we may now have to consider Foster's equally as a vintner.

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Russian Standard: seeking a stateside splash

Russian Standard Company has introduced its Imperia vodka to the profitable US ultra-premium vodka market. Although the product is entering an already crowded market, Russian Standard aims to position the product for success based on its smooth taste and ethnicity.

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Constellation Wines: brimming with attitude

The younger 25 to 34-year-old segment has historically been overlooked by European and US wine producers. However, with the launch of its new 'young' wine brand called Smashed Grapes, Constellation is clearly seeking to capitalize on the momentum that has seen new hipper wines being made accessible to a younger demographic.

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Wine: grapes of wealth for the US wine market

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Grand Marnier: seeking unspeakable exclusivity

Leveraging exclusivity is an important dimension in the marketing of any luxury product. While the new campaign to promote Grand Marnier's 150-year-old liqueur marks a departure from its highbrow advertising of the '90s, its overt promotion of the product's scarcity, prohibitive price, and heritage may be necessary as the luxury tag becomes increasingly accessible and, as a result, devalued.

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Anheuser-Busch: drinks promotion downed

While the Bud Pong promotional game was officially centered on water drinking, many players used beer instead, leaving Anheuser accused of promoting excessive alcohol consumption. Drinks companies must consider the effects of such campaigns carefully: the promotion of heavy drinking, no matter how inadvertent, risks creating an unfavorable legal environment for all drinks marketers.

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LVMH: luxuriating in US and China growth

LVMH has recorded buoyant sales over the past nine months, largely driven by strong economic growth in the US and China. However, luxury goods players such as LVMH remain especially dependent on the continuing strength of global spending power, and while an upturn in European tourism could boost the company's full-year results, the group remains equally susceptible to any kind of slowdown.

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Anheuser-Busch: high spirits may not pay off

Long Tail Libations, the new spirits company from Anheuser-Busch, has appeared at a time when Americans are increasingly keen to consume the innovative liqueurs it is promoting. However, given the significant scale and market knowledge advantages of the more established spirits players, Long Tail is most unlikely to become a cash cow for its parent.

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New drinks review: coffee, but not as we know it

For decades consumers have been content to drink their tea and coffee in the traditional way; hot with milk, and with little variation from the traditional formulas. Now, however, manufacturers are keen to exploit the rise in demand for healthier alternatives, with Productscan Online reporting on a self-cooling ready-to-drink tea and a coffee made not with coffee beans, but with ramon nuts...

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