The strategic thrust at Molson Brewing Co., a Canadian beer manufacturer, is aimed at achieving competitive advantage over key rivals like Labatt’s in order to reverse recent trends which include the following:
Molson laid off about 7% of its work force and took a special charge of $36 million in the current quarter in order to reduce costs.
Molson closed its Barrie Ontario Brewer in September and dismissed 414 workers, resulting in a third-quarter charge of $128 million.
Molson Breweries fired its advertising agency of 3 decades, after admitting its profits trail that of Labatt Brewing Co. by as much as $100 million.
Molson Inc. said it had a loss of $109.1 million, or $1.84 a share, in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec 31, 1999, after recording a nonrecurring, after-tax charge of $126 million. (Molson Cos. A16; Molson Plans C4; Allossery 4; Molson Inc. C26).
The strategies being employed to reverse these kinds of negative economic and human resource trends include innovative promotion and advertising campaigns, package redesign, applying economies of scale across Molson’s vast operations, an Internet Web site, and greater marketing control over Molson’s brands in the U.S. Molson recently inked a $133 million dollar deal with Miller Brewing Co. to repurchase total control of its beer brands in the United States (Molson Regains C4).
Restructuring their import arrangement with Miller Brewing is only one of the strategies that Molson is employing in order to increase profitability and provide job security for its employees. Molson sales have risen in Canada while in the U.S. the company has seen its sales decline even at a time when other import brands such as Foster’s continue to do well, a beer that Molson brews for the U.S. The restructuring with Miller Brewing has been viewed as necessary for allowing more parity in advertising because due to the previous structuring deal, Molson’s failure was Fosterâ...