The World Cup drove beer sales, and beer manufacturers took advantage of the situation to start a marketing war

Reporter Feng Fengming

Consumer demand for beer tends to climb
due to major events.

With the official kick-off of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the enthusiasm of domestic fans has also increased
significantly.
According to data from retail platform Meituan, on the night of the World Cup opener, Meituan's takeaway beer sales exceeded 280,000 bottles
.
On the opening day of the World Cup, national beer takeaway orders increased by 43%
month-on-month.
Hema expects overall sales growth of 148%
throughout the World Cup.

For beer manufacturers, the World Cup and other major nodes that promote the hot sales of beer channels will naturally not be missed
.
According to reports, a number of wine companies have started marketing wars by organizing fans to watch the game or launching World Cup concept products, and Budweiser has spent RMB 536 million to win the beer sales rights
(venues and surrounding areas) in this World Cup match.

Beer manufacturers and sales platforms are fighting, revealing some characteristics of the current development of the beer industry are also worth paying attention to
.

Beer manufacturers grasp the World Cup marketing hot spot

A "prohibition" on the eve of the opening of the World Cup caught AB InBev, one of the main sponsors, a little off guard
.
It is understood that in order to win the beer sales rights of this World Cup competition (venues and surrounding areas), AB InBev sponsored a total of 75 million US dollars (about 536 million yuan).

However, this does not affect its borrowing marketing
.
As one of the official global sponsors of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Budweiser launched a campaign themed "Become a World Hero", introducing 8 limited World Cup national cans, in addition to World Cup co-branded beer mugs and footballs
.

Other domestic beer manufacturers are also constantly promoting activities, such as organizing fans to watch the ball or launching World Cup concept products to participate in the World Cup
popularity.

For example, as early as this year's third quarterly report performance meeting, Chongqing Beer revealed that for the World Cup event, the Carlsberg brand launched a limited can packaging, and at the same time hired women's football goalkeeper Zhao Lina to cheer for Carlsberg football
.
It is understood that in addition to launching World Cup related products, Tsingtao Beer will also hold more than 200 Tsingtao Beer "viewing parties"
in more than 40 cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Yanjing Beer launched a marketing campaign
with the theme of "Passion and Love, With You Together" with U8, V10, fresh beer 2022 and other products.
On November 7, Geng Chao, chairman of Yanjing Beer, also personally appeared on the field and broadcast live with football commentator Dong Lu in the corporate live broadcast room
.
Pearl River Beer is during the World Cup, promoting draft beer (that is, beer original liquid) products "7 days fresh"
.
When interacting with investors, Zhujiang Beer said that the company will grasp sports events and other activities, enhance brand promotion hotspots such as "fan sponsors", expand brand influence, and continue to strengthen product market development and product promotion
.

In fact, the pressure on performance has also made brewers pay more and more attention to such large-scale events
that promote the hot sales of beer channels.

At present, in addition to China Resources Beer, 8 listed beer companies - Budweiser Asia Pacific, Tsingtao Beer, Chongqing Beer, Yanjing Beer, Huiquan Beer, Pearl River Beer, Lanzhou Yellow River, *ST Xifa have all announced their third quarter reports
for 2022.
The reporter combed and found that many beer companies are facing greater cost pressure
.

For example, in the first three quarters of this year, the operating cost of Tsingtao Beer was 18.
029 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.
62%.

Its total operating cost also increased by 7.
05% year-on-year to RMB24,121 million
.
According to the financial report, this is mainly affected
by the epidemic and rising raw material prices.

A similar situation
exists with Chongqing Beer and Pearl River Beer.
The operating cost of Chongqing Beer in the first three quarters of 2022 was 6.
128 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.
73%.

This squeezed the company's profit margins
to some extent.
In the first nine months of this year, the gross profit margin of Chongqing Beer decreased by 6.
56 percentage points year-on-year to 49.
7%.

The operating costs of Zhujiang Beer in the first three quarters increased by 21.
98% year-on-year to 2.
307 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to the parent decreased year-on-year, with a decline of 4.
05%
respectively.

The growth rate of sales was relatively weak
.
Data show that in the first three quarters of 2022, the sales growth rate of Tsingtao Beer and Huiquan Beer was below
3%.
Among them, Tsingtao Beer achieved a cumulative product sales volume of 7.
279 million kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 2.
8%; Huiquan beer sales volume was 191,000 kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 2.
53%.

The sales volume of Zhujiang Beer and Chongqing Beer in the first three quarters of this year increased by more than 3%, 4.
50% and 4.
54% respectively, and the sales volume was 1.
0958 million kiloliters and 2.
5265 million kiloliters
respectively.
Among them, Pearl River Beer mainly relied on the third quarter to drive the first three quarters, while Chongqing Beer's sales in the Q3 peak season increased by only 1.
3% year-on-year, to 878,000 kiloliters
.

Budweiser Asia Pacific data shows that its overall sales volume and sales in the Chinese market in the first half of the year showed varying degrees of decline
.
In the first half of this year, Budweiser Asia-Pacific's total sales volume was 4,522,600 kiloliters, a year-on-year decrease of 1.
4%.

Sales in China fell 5.
5%, revenue fell 3.
2%, and sales and revenue in the second quarter fell 6.
5% and 4.
9%
respectively.
In the first three quarters, Budweiser's Asia-Pacific sales increased by 1.
35% year-on-year to 7,271,500 kiloliters, but sales in the Chinese market still showed negative growth, down 2.
2% year-on-year, and revenue decreased by 1.
5%.

Budweiser explained that this round of the epidemic has affected major business regions such as Northeast, North China and Northwest China, and has affected
local night clubs and restaurant sales.

China Securities Construction Investment and other research reports believe that the World Cup, which starts in November this year, is expected to bring marketing opportunities
to high-end products.

Online sales channels may become a new growth point for performance

From the perspective of the entire industry, China's beer production has risen from 50 million in 2013 to 35.
624 million kiloliters
in 2021.
The industry has entered the stage of stock competition, and seeking more profit growth points has become a common "test question"
for beer companies.

Under the trend of premiumization, the news of the increase in the unit price of beer continues
.
Recently, Budweiser Asia Pacific CEO Yang Ke, revealed that he plans to raise the price of high-end and ultra-high-end products in the Chinese market from November, and the increase will be the average change in the CPI (Consumer Price Index
).
Previously, Budweiser raised the prices of core and affordable products in March and April this year, with a mid-single-digit
increase.

In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, the domestic beer consumption scene has been blocked, and online sales channels have become more and more popular
.
The reporter noticed that recently on the e-commerce platform, many beer dealers have launched beer promotion packages
with the help of the World Cup concept.

Meituan data shows that on the opening day of the 2022 Qatar World Cup alone, the overall orders for beer, beverages, snacks and fruit takeaway nationwide increased by 31% month-on-month, of which beer takeaway orders increased by 43%
month-on-month.
Among beer online orders, Yanjing Beer increased by 81% month-on-month, Budweiser Beer increased by 65% month-on-month, and Tsingtao Beer increased by 56%
month-on-month.

Ele.
me data also shows that three days before the start of the competition, orders for takeaway drinks during the night snack period in Beijing increased by nearly 50% month-on-month, and orders for drinks in Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing and other places increased by about
35% month-on-month.

Hema data shows that since November this year, the sales of Hema beer have increased by 168% year-on-year, and this year's newly launched World Cup customized raw brewed fresh beer has become a hot seller
.
It is expected that the overall sales of Hema beer will increase by 148%
throughout the World Cup.

Industry insiders said that the emergence of the above new formats in the beer industry is largely due to fundamental changes in the consumers who drink
.
Generation Z is becoming the main beer consumer group in China, and its consumption habits, product demand and consumption scenarios are very different
from previous generations of consumers.
According to Meituan's forecast, the current O2O penetration rate of domestic beer is about 1%-2%, and by 2026, this penetration rate will reach about 14%, and the market space will exceed 80 billion
.

Generally speaking, the fourth quarter is the off-season
for domestic beer sales.
A number of research reports predict that the beer industry is expected to continue its previous growth trend in the fourth quarter of this year
.
Founder Securities Research Report believes that the 2022 Qatar World Cup may stimulate off-season beer consumption, and more importantly, the sports marketing of various beer companies during the World Cup is expected to help the off-season price increase smoothly land and upgrade the product structure
.

Preliminary review: Li Song Responsible editor: Zhang Jiazhen Review: Peng Zonglu