nys strategy of concentrating on a few core brands. - Licensing agreements give the benefit of the expertise and market knowledge of local brewers, while minimising the capital investment required to enter new markets.- However, there is a danger that local partners will not see the promotion of Guinness products to be as important as the success of their own existing brands.- The concentration on Irish beer brands may hinder any planned moves by Diageo into Asia where stout and ale would be very much a small component of the beer market.Marketing Strategy- Guinness invests heavily in advertising, and has proved with the launch of Kilkenny its ability to build a major new product from scratch through high levels of advertising.- In Ireland, Guinness sponsors the Cork Jazz Festival and the Hurling Championship. Heinekens sponsorship strategy seems wiser- it sponsors music concerts aimed at younger drinkers, generating loyalty from an early age. Patrick Conway of Murphys describes the flaws in the Guinness strategy- If your brand is not recruiting younger drinkers, its losing lifespan - Stressing the Irishness of the products may not be of relevance potential customers in Asia and Africa.Steps to Improve the Performance of Diageo Over the Next Three Years Synergies- The company should seek to gain a competitive advantage over rivals by seeking out synergies between itself and the other branches of the group. For example, the opportunity exists to market its products in the Burger King restaurants where possible. Acquisition- Whitbread in the UK, which owns the Stella Artois brand, is currently considering the disposal of its brewing operations . Such an acquisition would provide Guinness with a premium beer in the form of Stella Artois, which it could use to tap into the speciality beer market.- Because local brands make up the majority of world beer sales, Diageo is limiting its growth potential by keeping its product por...
