Tiger Beer selects Publicis to lead creative in China

Publicis Shanghai's win follows a comprehensive review of the Tiger brand’s direction and opportunities in China, which as the world’s largest beer market consumes 50 billion litres annually—twice the size of the second largest market, the US.

Campaign Asia-Pacific has not determined the other players in the pitch.

In the final round of the client review, Tiger chose Publicis Shanghai on the basis of the agency’s creative capabilities as well as knowledge of the local beer market, according to CH Yang, CEO of the agency.

Publicis earlier handled a swathe of local competitor Tsingtao's creative duties alongside a major Beijing Olympics assignment. Yang said Tiger had no regular incumbent agency before this.

The opportunities to grow Tiger’s market share in China lie in music marketing, which was central to the creative concept Publicis presented in the pitch, Yang added.

Tiger’s highly visible sponsorship of 'Battle of the Bands' event in 2014 will take place again this year, but with more merchandising and promotions to support the ATL visibility. (Tiger Beer's band battle is not related to Hard Rock Cafe's Battle Of The Bands, which is not active within China.)

At a more strategic level, Publicis will focus on aligning the brand with the Chinese market through "merchandising the brand experience and recognising the creativity of youth".