Asahi UK, the company which owns a raft of premium beers from Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Asahi Super Dry to Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell, has handed its advertising and marketing account to The Corner London following a competitive pitch.
The Corner will be responsible for insight-driven creative execution across the UK portfolio, and will also work on key sponsorship properties, such as Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One, American Express presents BST Hyde Park and Royal Ascot 2023 for Peroni, and Rugby World Cup 2023 for Asahi Super Dry.
Asahi was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1889 as the Osaka Beer Company; in recent years, the firm has broadened portfolio through the acquisition of businesses in both Western and Central Eastern Europe.
In 2016, it snapped Dutch business Grolsch Brewery, Italian firm Peroni Brewery and the UK’s craft Meantime Brewery and SABMiller Brands.
The same year it also bought SABMiller’s Eastern European businesses in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, including beer brands Pilsner Urquell, Velkopopovický Kozel, Tyskie, Lech, Dreher and Ursus.
In 2019, the company bought Fuller’s beer business from Fuller, Smith & Turner, including the Griffin Brewery, Cornish Orchards, Dark Star Brewing and Nectar Imports.
Asahi UK director of brand marketing Jonathan Norman said: “Throughout our pitch process we were hugely impressed by The Corner’s ability to identify powerful insights and develop stand-out creative that will bring new meaning to our brands and engage consumers.”
The Corner founding partner and CEO Neil Simpson added: “It was a rigorous process, so we are over the moon to be chosen as the partner of a market leader who believes in the power of creativity.”
The Corner’s clients also include Hyundai UK, Sofolgy, Adidas, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola and Enterprise.
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