Here's To Home - National Identity and Beer Brand Identities

This dissertation discusses how and why several beer brands associate their brand identities with a national identity. Globalisation has brought about a rise of local distinctiveness in many markets and beer is no exception. Bigger beer brands face growing competition from local craft beers and micro breweries. There are two forms of this localisation in the imagery within this dissertation; (1) the “village” as local (2) the nation as local. Chapter one explores the first form of imagery is a reactionary backlash to the globalisation of production methods, which has seen companies focus on the depiction of local ingredients, brewing methods and natural imagery to appear locally based. The second form of imagery has been used for years by big brewers in the form of national symbols, the depiction of landscapes, stereotyping, pseudo-events and displays of patriotism. These ideas are explored in chapters two and three relation to Molson Canadian beer, who have adopted these techniques to become one of the most successful beer brewers in Canada.