CCL Container Helps Bottle Dominican Pride in Aluminum

The Dominican Republic is a proud land with proud people. One of their greatest sources of pride is the universal recognition enjoyed by its most famous brand – Presidente premium beer. So it was only a matter of time before Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (CND), the Dominican National Brewing Company, went the way of so many premium beverage products, and put its flagship brand in an aluminum bottle.

The new 16oz. aluminum bottles are produced for CND by CCL Container. Ever since CCL Container received a Worldstar award for its contribution of converting the first beer bottle from glass to aluminum, the Company has been a driving force behind many premium brews now being offered in aluminum bottle-cans.

According to Marcelo Carrión, marketing coordinator for the Presidente brand, it didn’t take long for CND’s purchasing department to contact CCL Container when the decision was made to bottle the pride of the Dominican Republic in aluminum.

However, the introduction of Presidente in aluminum is by no means an unceremonious, me-too line extension. “This is a major new initiative,” explained Carrión. “We’re using the UV (blacklight) graphic option that CCL’s aluminum bottles give us to launch a whole new line aimed at refreshing the young-adult market.”

The new Presidente line is appropriately called “U-Glow,” and it is being introduced as a lifestyle rallying cry more than a packaging alternative.

“We’re staging U-Glow theme parties in the top 14 clubs and discos in the Dominican Republic,” says Carrión. “And we are doing it the right way, bringing in dancers, giving away lots of premiums, and making sure the house lights go down as our black lights show off the glowing logotype on our new 16 oz. Presidente aluminum bottle.”

The graphic-rich aluminum bottle is central to the U-Glow world being promoted by the Presidente brand. TV, billboards and a strong public relations effort are all part of the marketing mix, with an aggressive grassroots sampling campaign. “Here in the Dominican Republic, the media is big,” explains Carrión. “We’re giving lots of samples to the opinion leaders and key influencers at every media outlet.”

The overriding strategy is to create a U-Glow feeling of community, according to Carrión. To accomplish this, CND is putting major emphasis on web-based marketing. In fact, the entire all new Presidente’s web site (www.presidente.com.do) is being devoted to the U-Glow marketing initiative, featuring interactive games and special chat rooms.

All this for a brand that owns 70% of the market and from a 100-year-old company that accounts for 96% of all the beer bought and sold in the Dominican Republic. Presidente’s following is already well entrenched far beyond the shores of the Dominican Republic. During 2006, the company exported 1,622,000 cases to 11 states in USA, including New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington and Georgia. Nowadays, thanks to Presidente, the Dominican Republic is the third Latin-American country with the highest percent of its beer purchased and sold in the United States, according to Carrión.

Presidente is also exported to several islands in the Caribbean, such as Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Aruba, Curacao, Virgin Islands, and Turks & Caicos. Last year, Presidente started to reach more of the European market through countries like Spain and Andorra. Thanks to its success in the international market, Presidente has increased 14 percent of its sales worldwide during 2006. Therefore, now is the best time for the company to have the U-Glow spirit catch on throughout the Caribbean, over to the US and on to Europe and Asia.

Although the Presidente marketing initiative focuses on the glow-in-the-dark graphics made popular by the aluminium bottle, Dominican brand is well aware of the other advantages inherent in aluminium bottle packaging.

As Ed Martin, vice president of sales and marketing for CCL Container, points out, aluminium bottles do more than help marketers get their products noticed. “Aluminium bottles are unbreakable, cool faster, and some independent testing shows that they defy science and stay colder longer than other packaging materials,” explains Martin. The aluminum bottles are also made from a very pure alloy and are 100% recyclable.

CCL Container is North America’s leading producer of impact-extruded aluminum packaging. The company currently has ISO 9002 Registered manufacturing facilities located in Hermitage, PA, Penetang, ONT and Mexico City, Mexico.


For more information on CCL’s products and services, please contact:

Ed Martin, Vice President, Sales and Marketing
CCL Container
Tel: (203) 354-4523
Fax: (203) 354-4524
E-mail: emartin@cclcontainer.com

Product Samples:
Jodi Clark, Customer Service
CCL Container
Tel: 724-981-4420
Fax: (724) 981-7226
E-mail: jclark@cclcontainer.com

CCL Container U.S. Operations:

One Llodio Drive
Hermitage, PA 16148

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