Beer branding in British and Czech companies: a comparative study

Branding is a key element in marketing, especially for those products whose limited opportunities for differentiation mean that they could be viewed as commodities. Branding is normally considered to be more developed in countries where marketing has been established for a longer period, such as the UK, than in new market economies such as the Czech Republic. Presents empirical evidence from UK and Czech companies to challenge this view. In spite of consumer resistance to branding in the Czech Republic, and differing competitive environments, the contrast between national and smaller breweries in terms of brand development was found to be similar in both countries. Though ensuring distribution is critical, it is argued that smaller breweries in both countries have much to gain from a clearer understanding of customers’ perceptions of their brands.