Inbev calls on Wight to help revive flagging Stella Artois
Inbev has drafted in advertising veteran Robin Wight, chairman of Engine Group, to advise on its struggling flagship lager brand Stella Artois.
The brewer has confirmed that it has held “informal consultations” with Wight on the Stella brand, but adds that there is no formal project that has been handed to either his group or his agency, WCRS.
An Inbev spokesman confirms that Stella has approached Wight “to make an informed comment about the brand, and we thought we could get an informed view from someone like Robin Wight on Stella.”
The global advertising business for Stella is held by Lowe Worldwide, which created the famous “reassuringly expensive” tagline. Stella is the agency’s oldest account, which it won as part of the Whitbread business.
The volume sales of the brand continue to decline as Stella struggles to maintain its premium brand status.
Wight “got involved” with Stella during a BBC Newsnight discussion on the brand in November last year, which also featured Inbev UK and Ireland president Richard Evans.
Separately, the digital arm of Engine, Meme is pitching for Inbev-owned Beck’s online brief. The agency is pitching against Profero and Agency.com.
Inbev also markets Leffe and Brahma as global brands, while its UK brands include Boddingtons, Murphy’s and Castlemaine XXXX.
Last week, it appointed the marketing director of its German division Andreas Hilger to the same role in the UK (MW last week).
