Nigerian Breweries’ advertising spend grosses N57 billion in 2022 financial Year
By Oghale Mafuru
The Nigerian Breweries PLC, a foremost brewing company in Nigeria, has recorded a 40.8% rise in its advertising spend for the 2022 financial year.
According to the company’s consolidated financial statement, advertising and sales promotion expenses rose from N40,530,114,000 in 2021 to N57,068,804,000 in 2022.
The company experienced a 26% sharp rise in revenue, growing from N437,195,534,000 in the 2021 financial year to N550,477,627,000 in 2022.
At the 2023 Pre-Annual General Meeting Media Briefing held in Lagos, the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Hans Essaadi disclosed that despite the economic headwinds and the highly competitive business landscape, the company remained resilient in delivering value to its customers while ensuring increased profitability.
According to Essaadi, despite the volatility of the business environment caused by the issue of forex scarcity, inflation, insecurity, and energy crisis, the company remains committed to mitigating the impact of the current economic crisis.
“We have the right processes in place, whether there is digitalization in the route to consumers. We found out how to optimize our marketing department to ensure we are a leading business moving forward. One of the challenges is poverty in this market. Although we have been in the market for 76 years, the challenges will continue to be in 2023.
Hyperinflation will continue to happen and will put pressure on disposable income. This will affect economies including our business.
“We will continue to show leadership in this market. We will find ways to mitigate the challenges by being as effective and efficient as possible. We would continue to listen to what the next generation of consumers wants and look at how we can make a difference. We remain committed to creating value for our shareholders. We have the right strategy in place to weather the storm and to continue to be successful” he said.
Also speaking with MARKETING EDGE, the Marketing Director of the Nigerian Breweries, Emmanuel Oraikhi, affirmed that the company will continue to increase investments in marketing and advertisements this year with focus on innovation and optimization of its premium brands to drive awareness and growth for the business.
“Marketing and distribution costs actually did go up. So, we made significant investments in our brands and will continue to do that. This year, we also plan to continue in that same vein in terms of our investment levels, focusing more on our premium brands, innovations, and the rest of our portfolio. So, in all, in terms of our investments, it is really quite significant. We are a national player, so our spread is really quite broad. We have committed sponsorship platforms, and media targets, such that we must drive awareness. Overall, the investment will continue.
“We have actually made significant investments in our premium portfolio, and so we have seen that with our premium portfolio, we are growing at a faster pace than the rest of the market. We have a broad portfolio of brands and do not under-invest in any particular brand in our portfolio. Those brands are there because we do know that they serve different needs across the country for different demographics. So, we believe that the investments in our brands are long-term. There could be short-term challenges in the market, with the situation in the country, but we are not a short-term player in this market. We are 76 years in this market. Investment is how we have built our brands and how we will continue,” he said.
The company, which currently has a broad portfolio of brands across different categories, plans to increase investment in driving growth for the business by harnessing opportunities in segments of the market with a high propensity for increased patronage and sales. To remain competitive in the beverage sector, the company disclosed that it delivered growth in volumes for Heineken, Desperados, and Tigers Beers, launched Zagg, and established price leadership in Mainstream Beer last year.
“Our business is very much mainstream. The market is very much mainstream. It has become very competitive in the mainstream space so you will see the emergence of regional mainstream brands. Our two biggest brands within that space are the Goldberg and Life brands. The Goldberg is for the South West while the Life beer is for the South East,” Oraikhi said.
While disposable income and high input costs as a result of inflation and naira devaluation continue to put pressure on the business, its 2023 focus is to maintain leadership in the market by leveraging its history, footprint, brand Portfolio, and people in driving a responsive pricing strategy and prioritizing Cost & Value.
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