Coors targets women with first UK clear beer

by Gemma Charles, marketingmagazine.co.uk 24-Mar-09, 08:30

LONDON - Coors Brewers has developed a clear lager - a first for the UK market - as part of its multi-million-pound project to increase the number of women who regularly drink beer.

The beer, which has yet to be given a name, has an ABV of 4% and is put through an ultra-filtering process that removes its colour. It is flavoured with green tea and dragon fruit, and has a taste similar to an alcopop. Coors plans to trial the drink through sampling in pubs and bars before any wider roll-out.

No major brewer sells a clear beer in the UK, although Beck's in Germany has a clear variant.

Last week, Coors launched its BitterSweet Partnership business unit, which was set up to increase the UK's number of female beer-drinkers. Code-named Eve in the run-up to its launch, the business unit is run by seconded female Coors

executives who have been given a free rein to investigate the reasons why women in the UK drink less beer than those in other comparable markets.

To coincide with its launch, the BitterSweet Partnership has released research on UK women's perceptions and drinking habits. The 'Love Beer' study found that advertising was one of the main factors that put women off drinking beer. 'Changing the advertising' was highlighted by 42% of respondents as the biggest single factor that could make beer more appealing to women'.

Concerns over calories and feeling bloated, as well as taste and packaging, also discourage women from drinking beer.

Kristy McCready, communications partner at the BitterSweet Partnership, said: 'We know that what turns some women off beer is the colour and the head, although they like the refreshing taste.'

The unit has trialled innovations such as beer cocktails and has formed a panel of experts, including writer Janet Street Porter, to explore the issue.