Research shows that consumers like it when manufacturers introduce new products as it gives them more product choice.
In a bid to stay ahead in a competitive market, alcohol beverage company, East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) #ticker:EABL, has in the last year launched five new products. It unveiled one last week called Smirnoff Ice Green Apple.
Research shows that consumers like it when manufacturers introduce new products as it gives them more product choice.
“The launch of Smirnoff Ice Green Apple is driven by the company’s commitment to continually innovate at scale in order to provide consumers more options in their drinks repertoire and expand their experience within the alcoholic-beverage market,” said Mrs Jane Karuku, Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) Managing Director.
The move comes as the company’s H1 of F18 released in January show that its net sales growth in Kenya experienced a -4 per cent decline with its key brands being Guinness, Tusker, Senator Keg and Smirnoff.
Despite the decline in net sales growth, its bottled beer category grew by five per cent driven by Tusker Cider, Tusker Lite, Guinness, White Cap and Balozi. This is in contrast to its mainstream spirits category which include Kenya Kane and Chrome, which experienced 14 per cent sales growth.
The brewer has expanded its consumer product choice away from beer by launching Captain Morgan Gold, Black and White Scotch Whisky, Kenya Cane Citrus Fusion and Triple Ace Vodka last year.
This expansion has been driven by its target to reach millennial consumers by launching products that are tailored to their taste and preference in order to gain brand relevance.
“Millennial consumers are a dominant consumer category globally. They have influenced the company’s direction and KBL has leveraged on their emerging trends in order to make our products accessible to them and relevant across multiple alcohol-beverage categories. Innovation contributed Sh5.4 billion (18 per cent of KBL sales) in H1 of F18,” said Stephen O’Kelly, KBL’s Marketing and Innovations Director.
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen on how to achieve brand success, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of its global participants said that that they like it when a brand launch new products in the market as it offers them more product choice while more than half (57 per cent) said that they purchased a new product during their last shopping trip.
Therefore, innovation can drive profitability and growth for brand enabling them to succeed in a competitive market.
“Globally, consumers are excited by the launched of a new product but their purchase behaviours are different. The survey results show that in the developing market respondents are more inclined to try new products, and they lead the way in self-reported purchasing.
“More than half of respondents in Asia-Pacific (69 per cent), Africa/Middle East (57 per cent) and Latin America (56 per cent) say they purchased a new product during their last grocery-shopping trip, compared with 44 per cent of European and 31 per cent of North American respondents,” reported Nielsen.
Besides appealing to consumers, when a company continuously innovates, it also influences brand preference and customers are willing to pay more for it and the company is regarded as an industry expert thus consumers expect to benefit from the new product launch, research has shown.
“This new addition to the Smirnoff Ice range has an intriguingly sweet and sour taste of green apples, perfectly balanced for an exciting drinking experience. It is a ready-to-drink product that caters to our consumers’ dynamic taste preferences. We are confident the new drink will add boldness and variety to the vibrant Smirnoff brand,” said Mrs Karuku.
- African Laughter
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