By Princewill Ekwujuru

The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition has come and gone with the winner having emerged, but the South Africa experiences still linger with winners of the ‘Guinness fly with Eagles promo.’ Aftermath of the tournament the stout market will soon witness a promo war.

A glimpse into the necessity of promos by Vanguard showed that when brands organise promos there are more to it than meets the eye. Arguments in this school are of two folds,  in one, the argument is that, it’s a waste of scarce resources organising promo (s), they insisted further that brands organise promos because their market share are declining. The second school say promo  helps to build a brand’s profile and grow it’s market share and because brands are part of a company’s capital, hence the exploitation of promo as a tool to drive the brand.

A probe into the market revealed that brands connect with consumers easily through promos. The edge the Guinness brand is presently enjoying in the market has been attributed to the  just ended ‘Guinness fly with Eagle promo’ where consumers were flown to South Africa courtesy of the promo, this in effect has re-ignited consumers confidence and assurance, which invariably has increased the brands relevance and loyalty to its customers.

Indications in the market has however shown that with the upsurge in Guinness consumption,  other brands like Legend,  Dark Ale, Castle stout and Turbo king are gearing up to introducing one promo or the other  to stem the rising profile of Guinness stout in the market.

In the last decade,  major players in the stout market have been Guinness, Legend and Dark Ale whilst Guinness Stout has consistently maintained leadership of the market, but with a serious resistance from Legend.

However, towards the end of year 2010, Pabod Breweries Limited, the Nigerian subsidiary of SAB Miller, threw a shot, when it unveiled Castle milk stout, with the promise that it was in for business. But surprisingly, it was not long before the brand was put in its position, with little or no national prominence, even till now.

Invariably, for the two hundred fans sponsored on an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to watch the Super Eagles live, there could not have been a better opportunity.

Like the Managing Director, Mr. Seni Adetu had said at the launch of the campaign in November 2012 that as part of the national consumer promotion on the campaign, two hundred fans will have a once in a life time opportunity to win tickets to travel to South Africa to watch the Super Eagles play live.

“It is our desire to give our numerous consumers, the fans of our darling Super Eagles a unique opportunity to cheer their favourite football team live as they take on the rest of Africa” Adetu retorted.

According to Alexander Oseghale, a trader in the Adegbayi area of Ibadan Oyo State, “it was a dream come true”. “The first time I was called from Guinness, I thought it was a joke, but then I heard from the Guinness team again a little before the start of the Nations Cup tournament. That was when I realised it was true” Oseghale said. Oseghale had an opportunity to watch the Eagles play Zambia live.

On the treatment received by the winners during their trip to South Africa, Irabor Sunday, a trader from Benin City Edo State said, it was world class.