International Breweries Plc, early in April 2026, excited the market with the release of its impressive annual report, which showed profit-after-tax ending the year at the north of N50 billion. Revenue was also in the black, growing by 26.6 percent to N619 billion. It did not matter that the growth was fueled by price increases; analysts observed other factors, such as volume growth and reduced forex hemorrhage, that had made life miserable for all the players in the brewing business for a couple of years.
Excited shareholders were still in their reverie when the company announced with glee, the launch of a new version of an existing brand that was still not sitting comfortably in its segment. Budweiser is the premium beer from the stable of International Breweries Plc. It arrived on the Nigerian market in April 2018 after the merger between SAB Miller and AB InBev, to fight for market share with Heineken from the shops of Nigerian Breweries Plc.
Budweiser has logged six years under its belt in the market, but a fair assessment of its journey-so-far yields a beer that is still either just there or has accepted its fate as second fiddle to Heineken in the premium beer segment. It appears to be busy carving a new rung for itself as the landlord of the lower upper segment, where those who cannot fully meet up with the feelings and aura of the upper segment beer drinkers congregate to at least pretend that they are still upper echelon beer people.
This segment has not become big enough to be given its own state yet. But International Breweries has gone ahead to introduce an extension into the segment, complete with royalty panache. Budweiser Royale was launched in Asaba, the capital of Delta State, in April, perhaps to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the launch of Budweiser on the Nigerian market.
As reported in Business Day, in the Asaba launch, the brand pulled out all the stops to introduce Budweiser Royale- “a super-premium variant crafted for those who demand sophistication, smoothness, and a bold flavour profile.” That is the language they speak when they are pushing failure in the name of innovation. I dare ask, if Budweiser-Royale is a super-premium variant, then what do we classify the mother Budweiser? Has it been downgraded away from the premium beer class, or has it birthed something bigger than itself?
As the publication in Business Day said, the launch was a masterclass in elegance, attended by a guest list that included traditional rulers in the East alongside business moguls, entertainment heavyweights, and top-tier influencers.
Speaking at the launch, Nick Kade, managing director of International Breweries PLC, expressed his excitement about the brand’s reception in the East, “The East is a market that truly appreciates quality and success. With Budweiser Royale, we are bringing a product that matches the ambition and lifestyle of our consumers here. It is more than just a beer; it is a symbol of achievement and refinement.”
Bamise Oyegbami, marketing director of International Breweries PLC, mentioned that central to the brand’s identity is the “All Rise” campaign, a call to celebrate growth, progress, and self-confidence. He noted that the brand was developed with the modern Nigerian in mind. “Our consumers know quality when they see it. Budweiser Royale delivers a rich drinking experience without losing balance. ‘All Rise’ is an invitation to step up and uphold a higher standard in everything one does,” he said.
The launch, according to a statement, was a masterclass in elegance, attended by a guest list that included traditional rulers in the East alongside business moguls, entertainment heavyweights, and top-tier influencers.
Expanding on the creative vision, Olajumoke Okikiolu, marketing manager, Budweiser, highlighted that the brand is built around the authentic stories of ambitious Nigerians.
It is very clear now that everyone associated with the marketing of beer in Nigeria copies from the same playbook of marketing-speak. They usually say the same thing at product launches, but once they get hit by market rejection, they slither away in a way that effectively hides the wastefulness in their futile attempts to create markets which do not exist and cannot exist.
But it appears that Bamise Oyegbami, the marketing director, was working hard to adopt the Nigerian Breweries template for marketing some of their brands in his speech. He clearly usurped the identifiers for Life beer in his speech. These identifiers include celebration of growth and progress. If you have driven across the Niger Bridge from Asaba into Onisha, these are clearly visible on lampposts and billboards of Hero beer on the bridge and immediately across the bridge at the area known as “Head Bridge.”
I have monitored beer extensions in this market to the level that I know the one that is bound for the cemetery long before the bottles leave the lines for the SKUs. This one will be no different and the reasons are so simple. I will provide the reasons and conclude with examples of some failures [brands] I warned about, but which some industry players have stubbornly refused to erect befitting epitaphs on their graves.
The first reason is the nature of beer drinkers: they are a possessive lot who do not want a better version of their favourite brands. Once you produce a better, a new, improved version of their favourite brand, you are either inviting them to migrate or telling them that you are making a mess of their favourite. Loyal beer drinkers are like jealous lovers. They are put off by a more handsome version of their love interest.
Once you present this to them, two things happen – they either migrate en masse to the new version of their favourite, or they flee so far away from it, that it begins to affect their feelings for the original brand. I thought International Breweries was clever when they refused to introduce Castle Beer to compete in the same market with Castle Lite, but the introduction of Budweiser Royale has shown that it was not the sort of wisdom I was ascribing to them.
Gulder beer was badly affected by the introduction of Gulder Max. Gulder found Max in one of its Ultimate Searches, but Max perished and took much of Gulder with it. Gulder was the beer for men. It was unpretentiously so. But Nigerian Breweries gave the market a beer “for men wey pass men”. This drove everyone away.
Star Lager is still desperately trying to recover from the wounds inflicted on it by the several extensions imposed on it. Star had Radler, Lite and Triple X extensions. At the end of the day, Star broke its neck carrying so many extensions the market didn’t need.
Guinness Stout had its worst time in the Nigerian market when an extra smooth version was imposed on it by the minders. Nobody wanted an extra smooth Guinness after a few trial buys. Goldberg from the Nigerian Breweries also wanted to be a stout and birthed Goldberg Black. In an article I published on November 21, 2023, titled “Abobaku Branding: Dear Goldberg Black, Trophy is Failing, not just because it is Called a Stout”, I dwelt a lot on why extending beer brands has always failed in Nigeria. I provided the factors that were going to make Goldberg Black, then newly launched, a monumental commercial failure. I made generous references to the extension of Trophy into the stout category.
Today, I want to ask my people in International Breweries, where is Trophy Stout? What happened to all the fine things that were spoken during the launch? To what extent have the brand managers netted the market share and profits they must have promised during their in-house presentations? Have they all moved on, having taken their own bonuses [from the huge launch expenditure]?
The cemetery is replete with graves of failed extensions and should provide important reference points for any brand planning to launch an extension tomorrow.
Beer drinkers are emotional where issues about their brands are concerned. You attack their emotions and wound the relationship they have with your brand any time you tell them that you are launching an improved version of their favourite brand. In doing this, you are telling them that there are some inadequacies in the one you were offering them before, which you just improved. You are questioning their sense of judgment by doing this, especially if you succeed in switching them to the new one and they don’t get the kick promised.
Show me a beer brand that has a thriving extension in the Nigerian market, and I will give Budweiser Royale some chance to make it till the next Christmas …because I am certain it wouldn’t.
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Ikem Okuhu, a journalist, author, PR professional, brand strategist and teacher, is the Executive Producer of C-Suite Cafe podcast as well as CEO of BRANDish, publishers of BRANDish, Nigeria’s first nationally circulating Brands and Marketing magazine. He has a career that has traversed print media, oil & gas, banking and entrepreneurship. Ikem is the author of the book, “PITCH: Debunking Marketing’s Strongest Myths”, a dispassionate exposition of the dos and don’ts of successful engagement in the marketplace, especially the Nigerian marketplace. He can be reached on + 234 8095121535 (text only) or brandishauthority@gmail.com
