Malta Guinness Herbs Lite : Is Guinness overplaying the herbal card?
Just about three weeks ago, Diageo Guinness unveiled a new addition to its brand portfolio called Malta Herbs Lite. This is a sugar light malt drink designed to appeal to the health-conscious consumer who worry about the level of sugar in non-alcoholic drinks.
Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa explained that Guinness Nigeria Plc choosed to introduce this new addition to the Malt category to give Nigerians not only a wider selection of malt drinks to choose from but also help in maintaining a healthier lifestyle by virtue of its low sugar formulation. He also stated that with the new classifications by industry regulators on sugar content for malt drinks, Malta Guinness Herbs Lite is the first truly Light sugar malt in Nigeria delivering even less sugar than most other malt drinks.
But is the market ready for another herb drink, even though this is the first of such within the malt category? Of course it is too early to reach any conclusive verdict on that as the product is less than a month in the market and consumers are actually just warming up to it. As a matter of fact, most consumers are not even aware of the product just yet.
A number of consumers who spoke with MARKETING EDGE expressed divergent opinions about the new product. While some thought it was a fantastic concept and a great addition to the non-alcoholic category, others reasoned that the company was getting too fixated on herbal drinks, having initially launched Orijin and Orijin Zero.
“I saw Malta Guinness herbal. I think Guinness is overplaying the herbal card,” Ayodele Sagoe said.
However Former CEO of Nielsen West Africa and an expert brand analyst, Mr. Lampe Omoyele disagrees. He told MARKETING EDGE that the new product is a legitimate aspiration because the brand is trying to address a set of consumers that are seeking for lower calories.
Guinness’ move reflects the fact that companies are taking changes in consumer taste more seriously as more Nigerian consumers are becoming savvier and lifestyle conscious. One of such consumer is Idongesit Etukudoh, a health-conscious business woman who described Malta Guinness Herbs Lite as the right drink for people like her who are very careful about what they consume.
But again the composition of the product is also a matter of regulation as NAFDAC has set a sugar limit of 9gm on malt drinks manufactured in Nigeria. Malta Guinness Herbs Lite has 8gm, and thus falls well within regulatory limits.
“For us it’s a fantastic opportunity to answer consumers’ desires and also comply with new regulations around malt that helps consumer navigate the category so people truly understand how much sugar is in their malt drink,” Director Innovations, Diageo/ Guinness Mrs. Jody Samuel Ike said.
But while Malta Guinness Herbs Lite is the first malt drink with an herbal component in Nigeria, it is however not the only low sugar malt drink in the market. That category has long been monopolised by Amstel Malta, from the stable of Nigeria Breweries Plc. And by it aggressive deployment of the right marketing mix, Amstel has for many years establish to establish an excellent top of the mind aware and connection with consumers in that category.
However, experts have said Malta Guinness Herbs Lite still has a big chance for success. “The Nigerian market is big enough for everyone, so there is still a lot of opportunities even for a new brand. What they must do is to deploy the right marketing communication strategies. More so, its herbal component gives it some edge, because as we can see with Orijin, Nigerians love herbs,” Ganiyu Owu, a brand consultant told MARKETING EDGE.
Owu added that with superior communications, Diageo Guinness can get consumers to change their habits and get them to think of buying Malta Guinness Lite. “The unique positioning has to be promoted in the proper media to reach the right target audience with effective messages to convince the consumers to change their behavior,” the brand expert said.
But that is easier said than done, given that NB Plc is known to be a big player in the marketing communication space and have only recently launched a new Amstel Malta campaign.
But another concern that have been expressed by some consumers is a possible conflict between Malta Guinness Lite and Orijin Zero, another low sugar herbal beverage in Guinness’ product portfolio. Guinness thus have a responsibility to establish an unmistakable clarity between both brands by it messages.
So the real challenge is not the manufacturing, it is the branding and the effective communication of value.
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