Sun, Sea, and Corona: How Corona Beer Survived the Negative Associations of the Coronavirus

When you thought of this Mexican beer before 2020, you probably envisioned summer scenes: sun, sea, and beach. However, since the start of the Coronavirus crisis, a completely different association has taken hold of the beer brand. The first thought at the word Corona is no longer of the beer, but of the virus. How do these associations work? And what impact does this have on Corona beer?

The figures speak for themselves: while the total value of all beer brands fell by 16% in 2020, the brand value of Corona dropped by 28%. Although the brand clearly took a significant hit last year, this does not necessarily mean it is doomed. Quite the opposite is true for the Netherlands and Western Europe: in these areas, there was even a growth in sales. For example, Corona beer in Belgium increased by 53%, with only the sales of disinfectant product Dettol rising more. How is it possible that when there is a virus with the same name, the effect can vary so much by country?

The brand's success is broadly dependent on two factors: is it top of mind (mental availability) and does the customer find it appealing (purchase activation)? Due to the coronavirus crisis, these forces are clashing enormously.

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Mental Availability: The Influence of Triggers on Behaviour

First of all, why do we exhibit certain choice behaviours? This is mainly due to triggers; these are certain stimuli that make us think of associated things. We are constantly bombarded by these stimuli, as they lurk everywhere in the environment and can take many forms. For example, a sound or a smell, but also seeing a product or an Instagram post can become a trigger. These stimuli activate a network in our brain with related thoughts, making them more top of mind. The more often we think of something, the more likely we are to perform a corresponding action. Do you have a bag of crisps on your desk? (Trigger!) Then with each glance at it, the chance that you take a second, third, and fourth handful only increases (Response!). 

Sometimes, however, triggers come from a much more indirect angle.

A striking example of how triggers can have a positive outcome is that of Mars, the chocolate bar. In an inexplicably rational way, sales of the Mars bar suddenly rose sharply in 1997. The marketers racked their brains, as nothing had changed in their campaigns and promotions. The explanation? NASA's Pathfinder mission to the planet Mars. The landing of Pathfinder was unprecedented: it was the first time in human history that we landed a rover on the planet. The media attention was naturally enormous. Because the planet Mars in our brain is apparently only a few neurons away from the chocolate bar of the same name, this unconsciously worked as a trigger for the Mars bar.

Now, almost 25 years later, there is again such a daily trigger that unintentionally shares the name with a brand: Corona.  With every relevant news report, every new press conference, and every face mask we see, it indirectly activates the corona network. And while this only yielded positive results for Mars, it is questionable for Corona. We must also examine a second driver of purchasing behaviour: positive emotion.

The Influence of Desire on Corona Beer

In our brain, the associative networks of the coronavirus and Corona beer are partly intertwined. Although this makes the brand more top of mind, it also brings the risk of emotional spillover with it. 

Through association, the negative emotion of corona can automatically flow into the brand image of Corona beer. The extent to which this happens depends on sometimes trivial factors.

Perception

One of the factors that determines the extent to which Corona as a brand suffers image damage from negative association stems from simple visual similarities, of which colour is a good example. Roughly speaking: the more similarities the appearance of coronavirus communication shows with the visual brand identity of Corona beer, the more the emotional charge of both will overlap in our brain.

For example, the Dutch corona press conferences are recognised by the well-known blue background. Corona beer is recognised by the combination of yellow, black, and white. Little overlap, and precisely that protects the beer brand from the emotions that Mark Rutte evokes not creeping into the brand. However, imagine an alternative reality in which our press conferences have a house style with a yellow background with black letters, and this perceptual protective barrier disappears like snow in the sun.

Sound

Every form of sensory differentiation contributes to our brain's ability to distinguish the virus from the beer brand. The same goes for voice. If the voice-over in Corona commercials echoes similar vocal tones as Mark Rutte or Hugo de Jonge, the emotional spillover also increases. The fewer connections our brain makes between the beer brand and the pandemic, the better.

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Culture

Another important influence is that of culture: the East has a different view of the world than the West, and so also on the virus and Corona beer. Where Western cultures often focus on details – the trees – Eastern cultures see the whole – the forest. This more holistic view appears to be more susceptible to seeing and making indirect connections, which means that Corona beer in Asia is at greater risk of experiencing commercially negative consequences.

This hypothesis is confirmed by the figures from AB InBev, the parent company behind Corona beer. In the first quarter of 2020, there was a 21% decline in AB InBev's revenues in Asia. Although this rose sharply again in the second quarter, there was a strong decline again in the last quarter of 2020. This is in stark contrast to the figures in Western Europe, where sales actually increased. A small note: the figures above concern the total revenue of AB InBev, not just Corona beer.

The Future of Corona Beer

Corona beer is more top of mind, but at the same time suffers from the negative emotion that the crisis raises. What does this mean for the future of the beer brand?

The great danger is that Corona as a brand will be long-term associated in the eyes of the consumer with all the negative consequences of the Coronavirus crisis, and will not be able to shake this off. Sun, sea, and beach will then slowly make way for soap, sickness, and holidays at home.

Negative associations have occurred before in the history of consumer psychology. For example, Ayds, a popular appetite suppressant from the 1970s and 1980s, was quickly associated with the rapidly emerging AIDS virus. Both were pronounced the same way and both were associated with weight loss. However, with AIDS, people also thought of illness, fear, and death. With the HIV stigma at its peak and rising deaths from AIDS, Ayds never recovered. The negative emotion of illness flowed over to the appetite suppressants.

What can Corona as a brand actually do to come out of the battle with the virus as well as possible? The strategy is to maximise the use of new and existing unique brand assets. Such brand assets can take many forms, think of setting (sun, sea, and fun) but also celebrities. This way, the brand taps into brain territory that is completely separate from associations with the pandemic. Unique brand assets work as a protective shield – a vaccination if you will – against brand contamination by corona.