Several years ago, I did a successful merchandising project in helping to promote Tiger Beer for Asia Pacific Breweries in the countries of Singapore, Cambodia and Myanmar. Having lived and worked in Singapore…which by the way is one of my favourite places in the whole world - mainly because compared to the rest of SE Asia, everything works. It’s a system that revolves around discipline and consistency but hasn’t quite been totally integrated into the beverage industry as of yet.

Now, Tiger Beer is the mainstay lager of choice in Singapore (it’s mine too – by the way) much to the same degree that San Miguel is in the Philippines –literally because it’s the only nectar that is widely available throughout the country. You basically drink SMB or you don’t have a beer.

I once made a presentation to the San Miguel people here in Manila on how they could vastly improve their merchandising techniques and improve customer service, to which they calmly replied, “who needs to merchandise and provide customer service when we have 92% of the market.” The same could almost be said for Tiger and it’s a trap that many brand leaders fall into. When you capture a market and become a strong number one there is a natural tendency to sit back and relax while basking in the glory of being the best beverage in the category as it relates to sales volume, share and profit.

In a sports analogy, it’s always tremendously difficult for a team to repeat as champions the following year, mainly because of two main factors; sudden complacency and the simple fact that every other team in the league has now set their sights on knocking them down a peg or two.

Coca-Cola battled back in the late 70’s and early 80’s against arch-rival Pepsi when the CSD category was riding high, but then both sat back and watched while a host of new beverage categories invaded the global market, like health, sports and energy drinks, a wide variety of juices and milk and of course, the rapid rise of mineral water. Now both are just another consumer choice in a myriad of colors and package sizes on a supermarket shelf or in a convenience store cold vault.

I also write a weekly sports column on American football for the Bangkok Post, SE Asia’s leading English newspaper, so commute regularly between the Philippines and Thailand. Earlier this year in the Land of Smiles, I was strolling to my favourite watering hole, Tim Bar Beer on Pattaya II Road when directly before me was a newly erected outdoor ‘beer garden’ exclusively featuring Tiger on Draft for only 45 baht per mug. Just had to stop and - wow, did it taste delicious!

At one time, the dominant market leader in Thailand was a local brew called Singha but they went into the ‘snooze syndrome’ and were eventually caught and passed by Chang Beer while outside imports like Heineken, Kloster and Carlsberg grew significantly in the premium area. Chang’s most recent claim to fame is putting their logo on the jersey’s of the British Primiership football team, Everton…and the jury is still out on the significance of that particular marketing strategy.

So I believe it was perfect timing for Tiger to blitz the Thai market. They quickly got excellent distribution in most hotels, restaurants, café’s and bars backed up with proven merchandising vehicles such as quality Image Point of Sale material; coasters, ash trays, bar towels, umbrellas, napkin holders and monogrammed glasses. These were supplemented by motivational posters placed inside and outside each outlet and even the occasional neon sign to let consumers know that Tiger Beer was ice cold and readily available. Probably most noticeable were the neatly decorated Tiger Vans buzzing along the streets of Bangkok & Pattaya.

My assessment is that it won’t be long before Tiger Beer will be #1 in Thailand.

Coaching Point : When you’re #1 in the market, any organization must work five times as hard just to stay there.