Labatt Breweries of Canada has quietly introduced iconic U.S. beer brand Rolling Rock to the Ontario market.
The Toronto-based brewer introduced a draught version of the brand to an estimated 100 establishments throughout the province in mid January (with a heavier emphasis placed on establishments in Toronto, Ottawa and London). It plans to introduce tall cans to LCBO and The Beer Store outlets next month.
Brand manager Dave Nicholls said the marketing plan for Rolling Rock calls for it to be an “organically grown” brand that is “tactically” targeted. He defined its target audience as beer drinkers 35 and under, and keen on trying different brands.
While Nicholls said Labatt has been encouraged by the response to Rolling Rock since its launch, it’s still far too early to talk about a potential national rollout for the product.
“We’ve already seen some good success over the past three weeks, but we need the full picture of how it’s lasting over the months and how it’s doing at retail,” he said. “There are a lot of people that know the brand, we just have to see the other side.”
The rollout is being supported by point-of-purchase advertising and a dedicated Faceboook page {http://www.facebook.com/RollingRockCanada} with additional work expected closer to the key summer season. The work was overseen by Toronto agency Grip Limited.
“It’s not going to be that big massive media campaign distributed everywhere,” said Nicholls. “The people we’re targeting are very interested in discovering their brands, so that’s why we’ve taken this approach of discovering it within the bar or pub, as opposed to being hit over the head with it.”
Nicholls said that Labatt was attracted to Rolling Rock because it is an iconic U.S. beer blessed with a certain amount of brand recognition. “This was one of the brands where we’re not introducing something totally different or that people aren’t aware of,” he said.
With a history dating back to 1939, Rolling Rock was originally brewed by a small brewery in the Western Pennsylvania town of Latrobe called the Latrobe Brewing Company. It gradually grew from a regional brand into a national brand, and in 2006 was purchased from InBev USA by Anheuser-Busch for US$82 million (the two companies merged in 2008).
