If Coke and Pepsi and M&M's can do it, why can't beer? If Mitsubishi Motors can do it, why not a good cold one? If the alcohol-pops brand eating away at the beer markets can do it, why not a premium lager?
 The answer is: Tradition. Namely, the beer brands of Europe remain largely segmented in their regional roles and have yet to make the giant leap to the pan-Euro hall-of-fame.
Surely, beer brands can succeed where soda pop brands have gone before -- unifying diverse consumers with an idea, based on universal human insights, behaviors and "moments."
Makes sense, no? Yes and no.
Yes, because this is a huge growth opportunity for the brand that succeeds. But before we start partying, let's first take a pop quiz. The category is European beer advertising.
First question: In which country are brewers most likely to use humor in their commercials? If you guessed the U.K., you are correct. Reward yourself with a pint of your favorite English bitter.
Next question: In which country are beer advertisers most likely to use appeals based on tradition? The correct answer is Germany, famous for its 1516 Beer Purity Law, which regulated the ingredients that could be used in the making of the beverage. Pour yourself a Bavarian-style pils if you guessed right.
Final quiz question: Name a country where beer ads frequently depict users enjoying themselves with friends. While this is a familiar approach in a number of European countries, you would certainly be correct if you said the Netherlands. You would, however, be dead wrong if you said France. Strict legislators there have outlawed alcoholic beverage ads on television and restrict lifestyle-themed ads in all other media.
Did you answer correctly? No matter -- go ahead and quench your thirst with a delicious Dutch bokbier. In fact, the more widely you sample the beers of Europe and elsewhere around the globe, the better you'll be able to appreciate the point I wish to make about beer advertising.
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Unlike product categories that have standardized features and universal appeal, such as household appliances or computers, beer is very much a culturally bound product. From the way it is brewed to its appearance in a glass to the subtleties of its taste profile, every beer is unique, and local cultures have historically held a preference for their own local brands.
But beyond local brand preferences -- don't faint now -- every single society also has a unique set of shared attitudes towards beer drinking. That's right -- shared! This is where the rubber meets the road for international beer advertisers. It is also why the market is changing so fast. Perhaps more than the advertisers of any other major product type, beer advertisers understand that local markets are best served by campaigns that reflect the local mind-set.
For instance, a recent Stella Artois campaign in the U.K. pulled no punches in its efforts to appeal to the British sense of humor. One of the spots, a true comic masterpiece, features a man on his deathbed surrounded by relatives. As his dying wish, he asks for a Stella Artois, and one of the relatives is dispatched to buy some. The man purchases the beer, but succumbing to temptation, he drinks it on his return journey.
Arriving back, he hands his empty glass to the priest as they enter the sickroom, leaving the impression with the dying man that the priest, not he, was the guilty party.
In Germany, Diebels is currently running a spot that underscores beer's positioning in that country as a traditional beverage to be consumed on celebratory occasions. In the ad, several people help a friend lug a sofa up a staircase to his apartment. It's a difficult job, but they prevail. Afterwards, he pours them a round of beers and they kick back on the sofa to drink and relax.
Beer is very much a culturally bound product.
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In Spain, where the theme of socialization is almost as common as it is in Holland, Amstel Aguila has been airing a spot showing a groom dancing first with his bride and then with his friends, one of whom is holding a beer. The ad tagline: 100 percent friendship.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. beer ads have more in common with British ads than they do with beer ads found elsewhere in Europe. In both countries, brewers regularly use humor in their campaigns and frequently stir in a dollop of sex to spice things up.
These days, the commoditzation of culture moves quickly. Beer must keep up with alchohol-pops, which have shaven chunks off the beer market across Europe. Beer can do this by inventing new products, but also by crafting stylin' advertising concepts across the great expanse that is Europe. Beer is lifestyle, not hops and grain. Beer needs to locate deeper universal aches or memories than those offered up by the local brew ads.
While spirits brands (that were almost down and out a decade ago) are growing based on entertaining ads -- and "one solid voice" across the continent -- beer brands ferment in the regionalism and passivity enforced by tradition; namely, by executing the same old beer tv spots consumers have been seeing for decades:
Golden grain landscape, check.
Beer glass with nice head, check.
Pearls of sweat on glass, check.
Smiling face of happy consumer, check.
What's lacking in huge amounts in Europe is the understanding that beer is entertainment ... and like the course of a dialogue in a bar, should be hilarious.
Just look what it did for beer brands in the USA.
Horse farts.
Scott Goodson is co-founder and creative partner of StrawberryFrog, a full-service advertising agency located in Amsterdam and New York City, with clients including Ikea, Mitsubishi Motors Europe, MTV Europe, Onitsuka Tiger, Pfizer, Sony Ericsson, Sprint and Credit Suisse.
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