The Hindu Business Line : SABMiller takes H2K to Mumbai

SHAW Wallace Breweries Ltd, managed by SABMiller, is taking H2K forward. In November last year, the company had initiated a brand makeover of Haywards 2000 beer into H2K, and experimented with it in the pint (330 ml) segment in Karnataka. Buoyed by the response, the company has now extended H2K to Mumbai, the biggest market for Haywards 2000 in the country, in both 650 ml and pint segments.

Mr Richard Rushton, Managing Director of Shaw Wallace Breweries, said, the makeover had worked well for the brand in Karnataka and now in Mumbai. "We are satisfied with the changes we have made and it is here to stay," he added. Mr Rushton said H2K was currently claiming a higher market share in its segment in Mumbai and had about 15 per cent share of the pint segment in Bangalore.

Even though the industry sources to whom this newspaper spoke differed with the claims made by H2K in Karnataka, it is learnt that the brand has put up a good show in a market dominated by arch rival United Breweries (UB) and where Haywards 2000 hardly had a presence in the past. It is believed that H2K has garnered average monthly sales of nearly 30,000 cases in Karnataka with Bangalore alone accounting for about 10,000 cases.

Shaw Wallace Breweries, which priced H2K pints aggressively at Rs 18 in Karnataka, has held on to the normal price in Mumbai — Rs 25 for pint and Rs 50 for 650 ml. In Karnataka, the brand has been pitted against UB Export pint that shook up the market in recent years as a volume driver with a value pricing of Rs 18. The company supported the H2K experiment with some typical FMCG tactics including schemes such as buy two and get one free. It must be mentioned that H2K launch was the first strategic marketing initiative by SABMiller after it took charge of the management in Shaw Wallace Breweries, the country's second largest brewer.

Interestingly, H2K has different communication planks in Mumbai and Karnataka. While the new communication in Mumbai Zahi Dum, Non Stop Fun is a refurbished positioning of Not Too Strong, Not Too Mild campaign by Haywards 2000, H2K was unleashed in Karnataka with the proposition Zyaada Maango Yaar.