Nigeria’s brewing giants — Guinness Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc — recently announced price increases for their products. People who watch developments in the global economy will easily agree it was time to sell a bottle for more; the Iran versus Israel-United States war has triggered chain reactions across the world, forcing inflationary spikes across industries.
Costs of inputs have kept an upward trajectory, and any brand that asks consumers to pay a little more would only be seen as playing the game of survival. Shipping costs have soared. The cost of logistics has followed the path of petroleum products to nudge towards the skies, and the market looks like it is crying for a general review.
But questions have to be asked when brands in difficult markets commit several unforced errors that tend to keep the customers at bay, even when such actions do not reflect on the lifestyle of the handlers. When it is suspected that the personal fortunes of the managers of a brand are inversely proportional to the brands they manage, stakeholders and observers are wont to worry.
After the close of books for the 2025 business year, Nigerian Breweries announced a 35% revenue growth from N1.08 trillion to N1.47 trillion. Profit for the year received a major rebound from the loss of N145 billion in 2024 to an impressive N69.9 billion in 2025.
Guinness Nigeria Plc, currently owned by the Tolaram Group, posted a heartwarming N41.2 billion profit, up from a loss of N54.8 billion. I was one of those who were sceptical about the willingness of the Tolaram Group to manage Guinness beer and all into profitability. I, however, have no choice but to take back my words, their efficient resource management and all.
The numbers for Nigerian Breweries were so good that worried shareholders must still be smiling that the impressive turnaround represents long-term stability for their stakes in the business. It must be felt that the foreign exchange headwinds that were largely blamed for the slide of the past couple of years had given way to sustainable profitability.
The minders of the brands on the stable of Nigerian Breweries must be aware of the declining consumption preference against beers in the Nigerian market. Remaining profitable as a brewer in this market requires a lot more than sampling brands; it demands investing in the brand, in the customer interaction and in deepening the demand behaviour and culture around the brand.
Is Nigerian Breweries still allocating resources to run promotions in bars to support the traffic of stock and inventory to their direct customers?
Again, I drink beer, and I also rely on what I see in bars – the behaviour of patrons each time I am moved to interpret the industry. In most bars, it appears there is a disconnect between the company and the customers. Put more directly, there appears to be a disconnect between the Above-the-Line (ATL) activities of the brands and the Below-the-Line (BTL). The creativity and refreshers in the ATL apparently are not cascaded through the BTL, as seen in many platforms of contact: bars.
The BTL material in many bars in most Nigerian urban cities of Lagos, Abuja and Enugu (I have been to these cities many times in the past three months) appears to be old and in urgent need of replacement. Some of them are in misalignment with the current brand-speak and positioning.
Someone is paid to look after these things, and you can bet there is a budget for them that is not being put to work. There is palpable decadence in trade infrastructure and collateral everywhere.
As pointed out at the beginning, the bad fortunes of the brands run contrary to the great fortunes of some of the handlers saddled with the responsibilities of cascading topline marketing initiatives to the end users via strategic channel marketing. One of these persons has moved into three different houses in different parts of upscale Lagos within two years. Property costs in these places are quite steep, suggesting this staff member, in denying customers of riveting point of sales collateral, is feathering his own nest. There are dead posters in many bars, dead infrastructures (chairs and tables), signages are also disappearing. In many places, you find brand artwork of more than five years, some of them communicating different things and confuse customers.
The odds are so stacked against the beers in the market that the present behaviour can only lead to poor fortunes going forward. Beer customers need to be coaxed, petted, into reaching for the next bottle.
Nigerian Breweries was hitherto the king of in-bar promotions. The current approach, in which they select one major open space in a big city where they host a party once every long while, cannot sell beer sustainably or support the dynamic above-the-line initiatives being experienced. While the open spaces draw huge traffic, the aggregate of the number of people who throng the smaller bars consistently far outstrips that of the one-time weekend parties. More importantly, every beer consumer wants to be treated uniquely. They want to be in the midst of personalised engagement. Hosting such pop-up experience will not cut it for him. He wants those little engagements in his own hood, even if it means pitching him to patronise his preferred brand, even if it’s just to reaffirm his preference for his own brand.
Minders of the brands at trade levels, particularly those at the channel marketing beat, need to do a bit more. You cannot be living large when the goose that lays the golden egg is starving. Except the plan is for a quick exit, investing in the brand across profitable channels, evolving occasions, and refreshing it for the long term is the only sustainable path for these brands. We are on the trail of billions of Naira as they make their way into pockets and purposes other than the intended, and if the situation is not arrested, the books might begin to bleed yet again.
Anything short of this and we all will be back to the pre-2023 years of shrivelling numbers and endless stakeholder grief over tanking profitability. There is a limit to which the biggest shareholder, Heineken, would agree to reflate the company. Soon, they would see that the insect that’s eating the vegetable actually resides in the vegetable, and that discovery might lead to consequences that could be very public and unpleasant.
Okuhu is a journalist, a Public Relations professional, brand strategist and teacher
