Löwenbrau relaunches to compete with Stella

Löwenbrau lager is being relaunched as a premium brand to compete directly with Stella Artois and Kronenbourg 1664.

Marketing and distribution company Refresh UK, which won the rights to Löwenbrau in June 2000, will stop brewing Löwenbrau Premium in the UK and will import the stronger Löwenbrau Original from Munich.

The lager will be repositioned as a “niche brand”, targeting 25to 40-year-old “discerning lager drinkers”, placing it in pole position to challenge Interbrew-owned Stella Artois’ hold on the UK’s premium lager market.

An ad campaign – created in house and to be launched next month – aims to establish Löwenbrau as a leading player in the premium lager market by focusing on the brand’s German roots.

Refresh UK chief executive Rupert Thompson says: “An important sector for authentic import beers is emerging, driven by a small but growing group of discriminating drinkers demanding the real thing.”

The last time Löwenbrau was backed by advertising in the UK was two years ago when Edge GMC created a poster campaign which used the Germans’ alleged lack of a sense of humour as its theme.

A report by Datamonitor, published earlier this month, claims the UK market for niche beer brands is set to grow, thanks to the popularity of Belgian imports such as Hoegaarden and Leffe.