Molson Canada wants to make it abundantly clear that its A Marca Bavaria brand is Brazilian – and what could be more Brazilian than soccer? With the help of Montreal-based agency P2P Proximity Marketing, the brewer is organizing soccer tournaments this fall to take place in 10 Montreal bars.

OK, so they aren’t expecting clientele to pull on cleats and head out to the nearest pitch, but they are supplying each location with its very own foosball table. ‘We’re actually addressing the male soccer fanatic,’ explains Nathalie Nasseri, GM at Montreal-based Kaiser Canada, a subsidiary of Molson. ‘The bars we have chosen are urban, and the patrons are active guys who are up for new experiences. This will help bring a buzz to the brand.’

A gang of six P2P reps will visit the local haunts, where they will spend an evening enticing participants with prizes such as Bavaria-branded soccer jerseys and a trip to Brazil if they happen to be the last man standing. The events are flagged for two weeks beforehand via posters placed in the venues.

According to Pierre Parent, president at P2P, this promotion is an example of ‘proximity marketing,’ which involves getting consumers as close to a product as possible. He adds: ‘People have to live [the brand] to appreciate it; they have to live the promise you’ve been presenting, so that they know what you’ve been saying is real. We believe that there is a better chance they will become ambassadors of the brand if this happens.’

The soccer tourney is the small sibling of a larger program – a mini carnival – that launched this summer in 100 bars throughout La Belle Province. Scheduled to run until October, it stars a parade of Brazilian characters, like feather-donning capuera dancers (who combine dance with martial arts) and firedancers (who use fire in their routines), and includes other Brazilian aspects like the beat of the Samba and a video depicting ‘sensual’ scenes.

Such lavish displays help the brand stand out, says Parent. ‘They are built around the Bavarian brand, and what it all represents – the good life versus rock music like all the other beer brands.’

In Quebec, Molson also has the advantage of driving trial through deals on the product, he adds. ‘We go into a bar, and visually it’s decorated and branded with Bavaria colours, and the beer is offered at a special price, or as a two-for-one. If we convince 2% or 3% of the clientele to try the beer, we know we’ve done the job.’

It also helps that there are incentives for staff to push the brand, which, in the first quarter of 2004, performed above expectations, according to Molson’s annual report. P2P reps circulate the bar, and if they overhear an employee suggesting Bavaria, there’s a chance they will hand him/her a $20 bill as a reward.

The response? ‘The beer now has its place in the fridge, even though it’s only four months old,’ says Parent. ‘This is important because the product needs to be upfront, it needs to be offered by the employees and it needs to be seen, because that’s when people start asking for it.’