Spitfire Analysis - Adeline Bouvier

Spitfire (Beer)

Summarize the specific marketing campaign of their beer. How are they selling it to the british ?

Sheperd Neame is a British brewery located in Kent. It is the oldest brewery of Great Britain and it produces different types beers. Among these beers, Spitfire is the biggest-sellling product that the company offers.

Spitfire was first brewed 26 years ago to commemorate the 50th anniversery of the Battle of Britain. During this battle, an aircraft called Spitfire help the RAF to fight the Luftwaffe and enabled Great Britain to win the battle against the Germans.

Concerning Spitfire’s marketing campaign, the brand is playing with Britain’s history. Indeed,

its positioning is as follows:

To British beer lovers, especially males aged 35-50, Spitfire is the beer that provides the unique experience of being British as well as courage and self-confidence because of its three kentish hops taste and its origins/history (originally brewed to commemorate the aeroplane which led to the victory of the Battle of Britain during WW2).

Other elements communicating the brand’s uniqueness follow this positioning.

• The name: As said previously, Spitfire is the name of the legendary airplane used during World War II. It confers to the product a deep story.
• The logo: The name is surrounded by the British flag. It aims to show values supported by the brand such as patriotism (colors reminding those of the flag of GB) and pride. Plus, on the the top of the bottle, a bulls-eye surrounds the cylinder wall, reminding the bulls-eye on the original aircraft.
• The slogan: “The bottle of Britain” it is a pun with “The Battle of Britain” and it reminds, once again, the victorious ending of this battle for GB.
• The ads: The ads are generally in black and white to remind the viewers that it is an old brand. In all the ads, we can see two RAF pilots (Amstrong and Miller) and references to World War II.
• On the internet: The brewery has created a website dedicated to its best-selling product, Spitfire. On this website, people can discover the story behind the brand when clicking on the tab “The story”. It is also possible to watch all the ads and the website proposes to the fans to create their own headlines for the posters. It is a way for the brand to make people feel closer to it. Spitfire is also very active on social networks. Indeed, on twitter, the brand comments

Would it be successful in France ? Why ? 

Spitfire is well positioned for the British market but not the french one. Indeed, according to Geert Hofstede, masculinity in Great Britain is higher than in France which means that GB has a more competitive culture than France. That is why the communication focusing on the british vicory against Germany during WW2 is working in Great Britain but would probably not work in France. Plus, Great Britain has an achievement culture meaning that people want proofs before giving credit to someone or to something while in France, people tend to acknowledge people or things because he/it has a label or a sign. In our case, Spitefire is successful in GB because the brand used the notoriety of the airplane and its role during WW2 to attract customers. In France, food products (including drinks) are in general more attractive when they have a label on their packaging. For example, people buy sugar-free coke without even looking at the ingredients while aspartame, replacing sugar, may also not be good for health.