With the advancement of the Ômicron variant, breweries rethink their strategy for Carnival

The pandemic will disrupt Carnival again. With the advancement of the Ômicron variant across the country and the uncertainties about holding the party, companies in the alcoholic beverage sector had to rethink their campaigns and even postpone advertising.

One of the main moments in the national calendar, in recent years, the street Carnival was being disputed by the drinking giants, who fought for the chance to expose their brand in the blocks of cities like São Paulo, Rio and Salvador.

For Eduardo Tomiya, from TM20 branding, despite the popular party being considered as a “Christmas” for the beverage sector, whose sales grow in this period, advertising campaigns should avoid stimulating agglomerations.

“Companies will have to be very careful when positioning the brand because it can be bad to be associated with parties at a time of high Covid-19 cases”, he says.

For 2022, Ambev had closed the sponsorship contract for the street party in São Paulo for R$ 23 million. According to the Estadãothe payment of the contract was not made by the company, which was surprised by the decision of the São Paulo City Hall to suspend the event.

Even with the cancellation of the sponsorship, Ambev says that it continues to dialogue with the municipal authorities and evaluates the next steps. “We are passionate about Carnival, but people’s health must always come first”, informs the beverage giant, in a note. For now, the publications of Ambev’s brands on social networks do not even touch on the subject of Carnival.

Vice leader in the market, Heineken should focus its actions on the public of private parties. The Dutch company informs that it follows state and municipal decisions on the release of events and is studying the maintenance of sponsorship contracts for Carnival.

“All our decisions are based on caring for people,” he says in a statement.

With an eye on high income, Diageo Brasil – owner of Tanqueray and Johnnie Walker – is also analyzing the possibility of sponsoring boxes for closed parties.

‘Quicksand’

Marketing specialist at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), Lilian Carvalho says that the fear of sending a wrong message has led to a review of advertising actions. “Brands are in quicksand, so campaigns are changing,” she says.

There are already examples of tactic modification. Heineken’s Sol beer remade ready-made advertising films, starting to advise revelers to enjoy the party at home.

Already spirits brands such as Bombay and Gray Goose, from the Bacardi Group, chose to completely cancel the advertising of the carnival. The actions and events sponsored by these brands will only take place after April. The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.