Between the lines: Cheers to marketers in liquor sales battle

As distasteful as it may be to vignerons, malt lovers and brewmeisters, future growth in the liquor industry now seems inextricably linked to marketing nous.

Last year showed conclusively that as alcohol consumption drops, marketing departments are in overdrive to find creative ways to grab share-of-throat.

Spirits, for example, have staged a comeback with sexy mixes that titillate the tastebuds of the young nightclubber.

Beer is also rising to the challenge. Under threat from the burgeoning popularity of wine, brewers have gentrified their product.

Speciality beers to accompany different foods and "beer cafes" are helping claw back ground lost at the dinner table.

Supermarkets have placed beer squarely under the noses of female household shoppers for the first time, and big brewers admit to prettying their packaging to capture the purse-clutching sex.

The fortunes of DB and Lion Nathan now look to be hitched to premium beers. Their challenge will be to further distinguish premium beers in the marketplace so they do not become the next mainstream category.

Beer commentator Luke Nicholas says the evolution of beer will be the same as that of wine, with people moving from Cold Duck on special occasions to what is now an "overwhelming" selection of varieties.

The danger with beer, he says, is that the drinker may soon ask why many premium lagers taste similar.

Brewers will need to be flexible to counter this shift in awareness.

By comparison, corporate movements in some liquor sectors show how marketing can capture foreign investment over and above sales. New Zealand wine has marketed itself so effectively overseas that several corporates have cast their eyes towards our vineyards.

Fosters, the world's third-largest wine company, would like to add a stable of New Zealand sauvignon blancs to its portfolio; even California-based Robert Mondavi is looking for a wine-producing jewel in the South Pacific.

Lion Nathan's leap into wine has assured it of participation in a strong growth story as beer sales stall.

The main spirits industry stoush this year will be pushing to sell product through supermarkets, a fight they have foreshadowed for years.

With more than half of all beer sales and a healthy proportion of wine being sold through the ever-open, convenient supermarket channel, spirits want a taste of the action.

But the sector may upset some in their own fold. Liquor retail outlets are already crying foul over losing business to supermarkets. Some also claim that supermarkets can negotiate better deals with their bulk-buying power.

How the argument pans out will be intriguing, especially as the fortunes of some industry giants lie on both sides of the debate.