CorpComms Magazine

With an international heritage dating back more than 400 years, brewing giant SAB Miller understands the role that the media can play in facilitating communications with its stakeholders.

But, in recent years, it has been aware of the increasing demands on journalists' time and the impact this has had on coverage of some issues.

In an effort to demonstrate its support for journalists, and to address the need for original features, SAB Miller held an unusual competition in association with the online student section of the Independent.

The brewing giant invited students, recent graduates and aspiring journalists to write a short piece about where in Europe they would most like to go for a beer, and why.

The prize was a month long all-expenses paid trip to visit a range of European cities where SAB Miller had brewing interests, and to write about the experience in a travel blog published online at the Independent.

The newspaper was selected because of its strong student readership, which was the audience SAB Miller sought to attract.

Nigel Fairbrass, head of media relations at SAB Miller, explains: 'We recognise that new and original story creation is clearly on the wane in newsrooms, which have been hollowed out by job cuts. Journalists are being asked to cover different beats.

'We are increasingly looking at ways to create content to fill that gap, and this was a genuine attempt to try to address this issue.'

THE ROLE OF MEDIA

Fairbrass adds: 'We see our primary responsibility as one to communicate the values and strategy of our business to stakeholders. The traditional assumption is that the information we provide will be reinterpreted and relayed by journalists, but that process is breaking down.

'We can no longer rely on the media to communicate with our stakeholders, and we feel the need to communicate in other ways.'

SAB Miller, which owns more than 200 brands including Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft and Peroni Nastro, operates in more than 60 countries across six continents.

'We own some of Europe's oldest breweries,' adds Fairbrass. 'We have a fantastic heritage, with some breweries dating back 400 or 500 years. For instance, Tychy Brewery [which produces Tyskie beer], just outside Krakow in Poland, dates back to 1475.'

Many of these breweries, and the brands they produce, played an important role in the social history of Eastern Europe. 'This is a chance for the student blogger to explore where the history of our brands meets the social history of these places,' says Fairbrass. 'But there was no directive that they had to speak about our brands.'

Ten students were invited to submit a second piece, and Lorena di Nola, a 27 year old translator from Southern Italy, was selected as the winner. 'She is an aspiring travel writer who stood out from the other entries,' says Bianca Shevlin, corporate relations manager at SAB Miller. 'She has completed her trip now. She crammed a lot in her itinerary and it has been a platform for her to explore new cultures.'

SEVEN CITIES IN FOUR WEEKS

Di Nola visited seven European cities, spending an average of four days in each. SAB Miller's travel department worked with her on the itinerary to ensure that di Nola made the most out of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All travel and hotel expenses were paid, and she also received a sum of money from SAB Miller.

Her trip began in Holland and progressed to Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Poland and Italy before ending in Romania.

After visiting the Grolsch brewery in the Dutch city of Enschede, di Nola urged her readers 'to put down that packet of crisps immediately! To enjoy your pint to the full, you should have a piece of cheese instead.'

And in Budapest, she noticed that people on the next table alternated their drinks 'sipping their beer right after their espresso', although the rest of her two blogs from the city barely mentioned the drink.

Having travelled two hours from Bratislava in a state of the art coach with seatbelt signs on the window, but no actual belts, di Nola reached Topolcany, home to the 50 year old Topvar brewery where she saw fermentation in open pools - a method now being replaced by modern technologies - and was reminded of the old Slovak proverb Where beer is brewed, life is good.

Di Nola adds: 'Hopefully the life of a professional travel writer will be the right one for me. It could be difficult going back to a desk job after this trip, so winning this competition could be a turning point.'

Fairbrass describes the prize as 'experiential', adding that di Nola's 'ability to generate interesting coverage is as much about accessibility as content'.

He adds: 'We are keen to bridge the gap between corporate and media entities, and we hope that this experience provides genuine inspiration.'  

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