Hugo Mills, sales and operations director for Scotland at Molson Coors, shares some trade secrets with Karen Peattie and explains why suppliers need to get behind the SLTA
IT’S a little too early for a beer but that doesn’t mean Hugo Mills can’t talk about how his company – and brands – are shaking up the Scottish licensed trade. And the sales and operations director for Scotland at Molson Coors has plenty to say as he reflects on the three-and-a-half years since he joined the company from Gruppo Campari to head up its Scottish operation.
For Molson Coors, its strategy of getting closer to customers and engaging with consumers has paid off. “It’s been a heavyweight focus but not an aggressive one,” says Mills. “We’ve grown our portfolio but not taken our foot off the accelerator with Carling.”
The brewer’s primary distribution partnership with wholesaler Matthew Clark in Scotland means the team has more time to focus on customer relationships and building its brands. Molson Coors has also worked to expand its footprint with receptive and forward-thinking wholesalers, resulting in growing demand for the MCBC brands in Scotland.
Then there’s last year’s $12 billion acquisition of Miller in the USA which saw Molson Coors become the world’s third-largest brewer. “Molson Coors doubled in size overnight,” Mills points out. “It gave us an extended portfolio and that is great news for our business and indeed Scotland.
Hugo Mills, sales and operations director for Scotland at Molson Coors
“In fact, I’d go so far as to say we’re in very rude health. We’re building brands for the long term and we’re doing that in partnership with our customers. We’re the third-largest brewer in beer terms in Scotland and the second-largest in lager and we remain the only major brewer driving total category growth across the full on-trade.
Carling, of course, first came to the fore in Scotland in the early 2000s when the brand became the shirt sponsor of both Celtic and Rangers.
“It helped get the name out there and although there’s a big uplift and focus now on craft beer it’s still performing well and proves that the mainstream lager market is important for Scotland,” he continues. “It’s a credible alternative to Tennent’s in predominately wet-led pubs.”
Football, says Mills, is still important to the Carling brand and is the Official Beer of the Premier League in a deal running until the end of the 2018/19 season.
In Scotland, Molson Coors has a partnership with satellite broadcaster BSkyB, under which publicans receive discounts on the cost of showing live football in return for becoming a customer of the brewer.
Other brands that are growing Molson Coors’ market share in Scotland include Staropramen, the long-established Czech brand brewed in Prague and Rekorderlig, the “supercool” Swedish premium cider brand.
“We’ve got a much more eclectic portfolio now,” says Mills. “That gives our customers breadth of choice and helps them create a point of difference over their competitors – brands like Blue Moon, Sharp’s Pilsner and Franciscan Well Chieftain IPA.
“Staropramen, for example, is a fantastic brand and one of the best Eastern European liquids in my opinion.
“It was a bit of a lost soul for a few years but we’ve repatriated it and injected a lot of focus on the brand. Its edgy, younger brother – Pravha – is also making an impact.”
In addition to investing in brands in Scotland, Molson Coors continues to invest in people, resources and research.
As Hugo Mills explains: “We’ve ditched the brewing mentality of old – brewers were traditionally bankers, financiers and traders. Today, it’s all about working with customers and being with them as they make their journey.
“If they want to change direction, we’re there with them every step of the way. Many have to change because consumers’ tastes are changing – the way they drink, their expectations when it comes to food, the way they go out.
“All of these things tell us that the licensed trade needs to bring a degree of sophistication to the table and grasp a better understanding of the way consumers behave. And it’s shifting quite radically.”
Mills points to the lower drink-driving limit, which came into force in Scotland at the end of 2014, as a “big game-changer”.
“It made people change their drinking habits and continues to have an impact today,” he says. “Rates are another hot subject.”
He adds: “Everyone needs to change and think outside their comfort zone, particularly at a time or economic and political uncertainty. Trade has been hit hard and suppliers have to work really hard to help guide customers in the right direction for their particular business.”
Molson Coors is also relocating its Scottish base from Livingston to Edinburgh city centre later this year, and this is a reinforcement of putting customers and consumers at the heart of its business.
“We intend to have a pretty unique set-up which allows for a creative and engaging facility for any of our customers to use – kind of a business hub with fantastic training facilities for them and members of staff,” Mills explains.
“We want to build upon the expertise in experiential marketing in the way we do with consumers through pop-ups such as the Coors Light ice cave next to Glasgow’s Riverside Museum or our brand activation at the Pleasance Courtyard during the Edinburgh Festival in August.
“The Pleasance is our flagship activational activity this year and 500,000 people will be passing through so it’s a massive opportunity for us.
“This type of ‘experiential’ brand activation helps us engage with consumers and drive awareness of a brand,” Mills points out. “People can get behind the story of the brand, touch it, taste it and try it – that drives interest and ultimately footfall back into pubs and bars.”
Mills also points to “tank beer” as one of the company’s new trial initiatives this year. “You walk into a bar in Prague and you’ll see tanks on the wall full of brewery-fresh beer,” he explains. “The brewery comes and fills them up every day.
“So we’re doing it in Scotland with a tanker of Staropramen coming over from Prague every week to full up tanks in premises including Pizza Punks in Glasgow and now in the Montpeliers group’s newly-opened Rabble on Frederick Street in Edinburgh.”
Look out, too, for Pravha-branded taxis and sampling this summer. “Pravha is Staropramen’s younger brother, an amazing sessionable premium pilsner beer with the credentials of Staropramen,” Mills says.
With a fully dedicated on-trade support team in Scotland including its own dedicated technical support team, Molson Coors offers support across the board. “If you want help with any aspect of running your business front end or back end we have people who are passionate and experienced in encouraging success in sales, technical improvements and efficiencies, and consumer marketing,” Mills continues.
“We’re doing everything we can to help. Yes, there is a fear of the future and a worry if now is the time to change what you’re doing – if it’s working, why fix it?
“But you need to keep things moving and the way I see it, the operators who are investing and planning ahead are the ones who are going to be successful in the future.
“Small changes can help you attract a different customer profile – every improvement, big or small, is beneficial to your long-term viability.”
As a key supporter of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Molson Coors flies its flag high. “A strong trade body is so important and we’ve seen first-hand with the recent rates issue how influential the SLTA is,” says Mills.
“Suppliers need to be champions of the industry and support the SLTA in its work – if we don’t, everyone suffers.
“We see ourselves as a young, dynamic business with an appetite for shaping the future, and in Scotland the SLTA is very much part of that future and our vision.
“I have huge admiration for Paul Waterson and his team – Paul is really championing the licensed trade and he has reinvigorated the SLTA to put it in a very strong position for the future.”