Rugby World Cup saw a record FIVE MILLION pints of beer drunk with over 1.17m people at grounds and fan zones in France… how Asahi Europe and International became a successful sponsor (and their links to F1’s Aston Martin and the City Football Group!)

• Asahi Europe & International have grown their portfolio into sports sponsorship
• They were the official beer partner for this year’s Rugby World Cup in France
• Chief Marketing Officer Grant McKenzie spoke exclusively to Mail Sport about it 

We’re three weeks removed from the Rugby World Cup having concluded but the impact of its success is still reverberating like a thunderous tackle.

On the pitch, South Africa reigned supreme once again for a second-successive tournament after a tense 12-11 victory over rivals New Zealand.

Off the pitch, there was a change in commercial partners as Asahi Europe & International (AEI) became this year’s official beer partner for the global showpiece.

Tasked with forging and growing the AEI brand within the tournament was Grant McKenzie, Chief Marketing Officer. McKenzie has been working in the beer industry since 2005 and is currently responsible for marketing AEI’s five global brands which include Asahi Super Dry and Peroni.

‘I think it [the partnership] has gone really well – this is the first time Asahi’s been the partner,’ McKenzie told Mail Sport exclusively, in Paris during the semi-finals weekend of the Rugby World Cup, on the success of the tournament from AEI’s perspective.

Alcohol-consuming fans at the Rugby World Cup would have noticed a different beer sponsor

Asahi Europe & International (AEI) was the official beer partner for this year’s Rugby World Cup

South Africa were the toast of the rugby world after beating New Zealand 12-11 in the final

AEI’s Chief Marketing Officer Grant McKenzie spoke to Mail Sport their deal with World Rugby

‘It’s the first time we’ve done something big, we knew there would be some things to improve, and there have been, and we’ve been talking to World Rugby about improving the operations, which they have.

‘But it’s been a really big success for us, particularly if you look at what happened at home. In the UK and Ireland, the sales in the last few months have really, really grown for Asahi Super Dry.

‘One-hundred thousand consumers got involved in the competition to win tickets, which is a record for us. That’s an example of a lot engagement we’ve had, the podcast on rugby has been big too. So overall, it’s been a big success for us as a group and as a brand.’

The numbers support McKenzie’s reasoning. Aside from the record-breaking figures of consumers bidding to win tickets, the UK market for AEI especially flourished.

The marketing around the Rugby World Cup saw AEI’s percentage points grow by two – which was the equivalent of 460,000 beer drinkers. Emphasising this further, September resulted in the highest volume ever of Asahi Super Dry being sold in the UK.

It wasn’t just the impact within the UK where AEI’s marketing ploys worked though. In France, beer sales records were broken in seven out of the nine stadia used – including the iconic Stade de France in Paris (the venue for both semi-finals and the final) and Marseille’s Stade Velodrome. Overall, a record 2.5 million litres of beer – roughly five million pints – were guzzled during the seven-week long tournament.

With Asahi Super Dry being the only beer available for fans, and it’s alcohol-free counterpart Asahi Super Dry 0.0%, at grounds and around fanzones – where total attendance of the latter surpassed 1.17m since the Rugby World Cup began – the benefits to AEI were plain to see.

‘I think there’s two reasons it’s important,’ McKenzie explained.

A record 2.5 million litres of beer – roughly five million pints – were drunk at the tournament

Aside from Asahi Duper Dry, the Rugby World Cup also served their non-alcoholic 0.0% version

‘One, it gives you global reach now, which is becoming more challenging with traditional media because TV and everything is fragmenting such as social media.

‘And two, it’s really a passion point for consumers. It’s a bit of a cliche, but it’s actually true. The content we do around this is really engaging for people because they love it, they love sport. And I think the world is becoming more polarising.

‘People are “this way and that way” and sport is one of the things that brings people together. So that’s why we’ve got involved – it’s becoming an important part of our strategy.’

Another part of their strategy was the formulation of their Rugby World Cup x Asahi Super Dry podcast. It was the tournament’s first-ever official podcast and the branding proved once again beneficial to AEI.

Across 21 episodes, prior to the semis, there had been a staggering 13.2million views – with over seven million impressions and 830,000 downloads. Total users across World Rugby digital platforms increased by 44 per cent from the 2019 World Cup – strengthening McKenzie’s words about consumer activation.

It’s not just rugby union, where AEI are making their mark – with Formula One and football also sports they have diversified into over the past three years. Through Peroni too, they also had the rights for the recent Ryder Cup in Rome.

By the semis, there had been 13.2m views on their Rugby World Cup x Asahi Super Dry podcast

‘We’ve become more focused on building the global brands, particularly Peroni and Asahi,’ McKenzie said. ‘We want to scale these global brands, make them more famous, make them more well known.’

With regards to Peroni and F1 that has come in the shape of AEI’s deal with Aston Martin – with the main objective to raise the profile of Peroni’s 0.0% beer.

In their third season with the F1 team, McKenzie has seen the growth.

‘F1 is just a big global sport. It’s growing, it’s becoming more diverse in terms of its viewership and it works in the markets where Peroni is growing.

‘We’ve got the UK and Ireland market, Central Europe, Australia, Japan, China and Singapore – all of which are key for Peroni.

‘And with F1 truly global in terms of the races all over the world too, you get to put your brand out there to countries that may not necessarily know too much about Peroni which is coupled with a luxury and prestigious brand in Aston Martin.’

AEI has a deal with F1’s Aston Martin – where they aim to raise the profile of Peroni’s 0.0% beer

Last year, AEI started a multi-year deal with City Football Group (CFG) which sees Asahi Super Dry as their global partner and official beer of the four football teams under their umbrella: Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos, Sichuan Juiniu and Manchester City.

The deal couldn’t have been more perfectly timed – considering the latter won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League last season.

‘The English Premier League is the biggest league property in the world. We wanted to work with a partner who was progressive, successful and wanted to build a presence in Asia – which is important for us.

‘We met the guys and I have to say, honestly, they’re the most professional people I’ve ever worked with in a sports partnership. They had a big vision: they’re not just Manchester City, they’re the City Football Group with numerous partners. We work with them in Melbourne, Japan – with Yokohama who are champions too and China; so the global reach is there and they all just don’t win, but win with style which helps the brand.’

Lessons from activation with Aston Martin and the City Football Group were incorporated into the Rugby World Cup and those could be heeded again with AEI looking at expanding their relationship with World Rugby beyond the contract of this year’s Rugby World Cup, which has now expired.

AEI signed a deal multi-year deal last season with the City Football Group too, as they diversify

‘So, the deal is for this event,’ said McKenzie. ‘We’re going to sit down with World Rugby and talk about the future.

‘The next one is the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England, then it’s Australia for the men’s in 2027 followed by Australia again for the women’s in 2029 – so we’re interested to talk to them about that.

‘It needs to work obviously, for us, we’ve got some things that we would change or improve but that’s a conversation we’ll have with World Rugby.’

The way the tournament has seemingly proved a success it wouldn’t be a surprise if AEI and World Rugby work together at those future events.

Cheers indeed, or ‘sante’ as they would say in France.

McKenzie spoke to Mail Sport’s Luke Augustus during the Rugby World Cup semis in France

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