brand, Star, Gulder and ABC, plays its
own role in the beer market. All three
of them belong to the standard seg
ment of the market, though you
could say that ABC Golden Lager is in
the lower part of the segment. Star is
the mainstream standard beer and
Gulder is the top of the standard seg
ment. There is not much difference
between the prices of the various
brands. For the real premium seg
ment you have to look to imported
beers like Heineken."
SOCIALISE
Beer is a drink for men in Ghana and
it mainly serves as a means to meet
people, to socialise. Which is why it
is chiefly a drink for outdoor con
sumption, or for drinking in bars.
Paradoxically enough, beer is consu
med not only on festive occasions
but also in times of sorrow, as during
a funeral. In Ghana there are two
types of bars: the indoor and the out
door bars. Examples of indoor bars
are the nightclubs. Indoor bars are
most frequented by the high class
Ghanaians and the foreigners. The
outdoor bars, covered terraces which
are often painted very artistically
with advertisements for Star or ABC,
are the most popular outlets and are
very important for the brewery.
Obviously, Ghana Breweries also
wants a strong presence in the hotel
business. Especially the (mini)bars in
the prestigious hotels are seen as
important by Kwaku Adu, Customer
a Service Controller of Ghana Brew
eries. "It is vital to build up a good
relationship with the Food and
z Beverage Managers of the hotels.
They are the ones who know exactly
what their guests want and we can
then respond to those wishes." In the
restaurants, too, it is attractive for
g Ghana Breweries to build up a strong
position. Apart from in the presti
gious restaurants, beer is mainly ser
ved in what are known as chop bars.
Chop bars are small eating establish
ments, usually outdoors, in which
beer consumption is mostly higher
than in the prestigious restaurants.
All Ghana Breweries brands are
in national distribution and reach
indoor, outdoor and Horeca opera
tors spread around the country
through a network of third-party
distributors known as "Depot Con
tractors".
PROMOTIONS
How do you sell the product to the
male beer drinker in Ghana?
According to Ben Afrifa, this can best
be done by focusing your marketing
efforts on television, radio and bill
boards and also by developing pro
motional activities. But how do you
spread your promotions between
three brands whose images are very
similar? Ghana Breweries has come
up with an original three-way split:
each brand is linked to a specific
sponsorship and promotional events
as well as to a day of the week or
weekend. The Friday evening is reser
ved for the Gulder brand. For ABC it's
the weekly night out on Saturday
evenings.
For Star, strangely enough, it is
Sunday morning. Ben Afrifa explains:
"Ghanaians are quite religious but on
Sunday mornings, usually after
church, many endeavour to visit the
outdoor bars to eat 'omo tuo'. This is
a special dish of balls of cooked rice
and soup which is prepared for
Sunday morning. We want to asso
ciate Star with that special eating
occasion and to emphasise that Star
is part of the people and assists in
celebrating every occasion, including
Sunday mornings. In addition to the
special Sunday event we also empha
sise Star beer's social image by spon
soring cultural festivals."
FESTIVALS
Festivals are periodic gatherings of
ethnic groupings in Ghana that are
held to remember the ancestors, to
take stock of the present and to plan
development activities for the future.
There are very many different ethnic
groups and they all have their annu
al festivals. During such festivals
Pictures of the Accra Brewery.
