Helped the Country’s Leading Brewer Stave Off a Major Competitor

The world’s largest brewer, whose global leadership was being challenged by a very aggressive competitor, retained Marston to help the company tell its leadership story. The company was growing rapidly and gaining market share, but had undergone a management change in which the former CEO stepped down, leaving the leadership of the firm to his yet unproven son.

Other factors also led to a misconception that the industry leader was losing its grip on first place and was succumbing to a cash-rich competitor, whose advertising and marketing expenditures were record breaking. The competitor also benefited by a small acquisition and a license agreement that catapulted it into leadership of the light beer and import categories.

Marston quickly persuaded the company to talk openly with the business media, explaining its dominant position in the industry. It encouraged the company to describe in detail its manufacturing process, its quality assurance program and its enormous growth potential. In addition, it advised the company to reveal its plans for both domestic and international expansion, including a host of new products, such as soft drinks, snacks, a wide range of brand extensions to accommodate changing consumer tastes, as well as the growth of its theme parks.

Marston also took steps to demonstrate that the company’s new leadership was strong, capable and effective. We convinced the company’s senior management to meet regularly with key business media and, thereby, generated many positive articles in national business publications such as Fortune, BusinessWeek, Barron’s, Forbes, Institutional Investor, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily. We also generated significant coverage in the broadcast media, both on consumer programs such as NBC’s Today and on business programs such as CNN’s Moneyline.

Marston was the corporate PR agency of record for this brewer for 18 years, during which time the company regained its premiere positions on Wall Street and in the consumer marketplace.