BARTON BEERS TAPS POP DISPLAYS FOR CINCO DE MAYO

RICHARD TURCSIK

CHICAGO -- Barton Beers here is placing a greater emphasis on in-store point-of-purchase displays to build sales of its Corona beer during the popular Mexican Cinco de Mayo holiday and other key selling periods.

It has introduced a new permanent "La Casa de Corona" floor display that measures 5 feet by 7 feet and features corrugated construction designed with authentic Mexican cantina graphics to capture the in-store interest of customers. The display is lightweight yet sturdy, and can work as an endcap or freestanding unit. It is designed to allow customers to grab six-packs, 12-packs and cases of Corona easily.

"This display is the largest and most impactive that we've developed to-date," said Timm Amundson, brand manager at Barton Beers.

Barton Beers markets Corona beer West of the Mississippi, while Gambrinus Co., San Antonio, holds the rights to the brand in the East.

Amundson said the display incorporates the popular Corona parrot.

"The primary visual shows him breaking through a Corona pinata and after that come all of the festivities out of the pinata, including Corona bottles, balloons, etc. Our tag line again this year is 'The Drinko for Cinco.' We will be supporting the promotion through TV and radio. We have a cable buy that we placed this year," he said.

Amundson said Barton Beers has increased its promotional budget for Corona this year, and expects strong sales patterns to follow through. "Our sales of Corona were up well over 30% for the calendar year last year, and we're trending in the same direction for this year," Amundson said. "Corona is having another terrific year this year. We're doing everything we can by way of promotional support and advertising to help maintain the strength."

He said Barton Beers is sending retailers and on-premise establishments point-of-sale materials that have proven themselves in the past, including an imprint banner, table tents, posters and puff stickers.

"We use a Cinco de Mayo countdown calendar to kick off that event. This calendar is sent out to market ahead of our other materials. It is basically just a countdown calendar that retailers can post that begins in early March," he said.

Amundson said Casa de Corona will be used for other major holidays, including Mexican Independence Day Sept. 16.

"While Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that has gained particular acceptance within the general market, Mexican Independence Day is celebrated more actively by the Hispanic community, and is not that well-recognized by the general market. Cinco de Mayo is a very big holiday across the board and gets bigger every year," he said.

Amundson said point-of-sale materials have been instrumental in building Corona's sales and name recognition throughout the year.

"Cinco de Mayo really kicks off our beer-selling season. Our sales are strong throughout the summer months; however, we find our numbers from a seasonality standpoint to be very strong from March through December. But this January our numbers were up 40% from last year, so Corona is becoming very much a year-round beer," he said.