Whitbread beer launch by WMH

Brewer Whitbread Beer Company is mounting a fightback against foreign rivals which have encroached on its territory by launching a heavily branded British lager. Naming and design is by Williams Murray Hamm.

The beer is called simply GB, and uses as its identity a version of the bumper sticker seen on the cars of British motorists when abroad. It will launch in May, initially in the north west of Britain. A national rollout is planned to follow.

In a bid to appeal to the British sense of humour, and to add novelty value, the beer will be served from a bathroom tap mounted on top of the bar in pubs. A website (www.getbrewing.com) has been created by GoDigital.

All ingredients for the brew are sourced in the UK. In strength terms the beer has been positioned between standard and premium brands, in a bid to provide the taste of strong lager while retaining volume sales.

Whitbread director of sales Allan Tudor says, “This category has been suffering from a lack of serious innovation… We believe that the time is right to rectify that situation.”

WMH creative director Garrick Hamm says: “It had to be British without being jingoistic. The GB car sticker was a brilliant image for that.”

Describing a typical bar as a “glorified skittle alley” of rival beer pumps and badges, Hamm says the use of the bathroom tap was based on a decision to “call a spade a spade”. He adds, “Beer comes from a tap.”