Murphy's Brewery

III. Executive Summary

Threat such as competition is a natural scenario which a company should overcome with. As a marketing Director for Murphy’s, Patrick Conway main concern is to do his task as marketing personnel. “Grand Met, Guinness to Merge”, a headline issue in Financial Times caught the attention of Patrick. The headline was about the synergy activity between two of the four largest distillers. The new firm will be called GMG will be approximately equal in size with such major multi nationals as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Phillip Morris.

Murphy was in the midst of preparing its 1998 global marketing plan, with connection with this; the assessment of Murphy’s status in the worldwide market was needed. To be able to do such assessment, Murphy examines its position in the UK and European markets. The marketing director digs and reacquaints himself with its company history.

Murphy Brewery Ireland, Limited, (MBIL) is an international stout brewing company. Murphy, ironically, is recognized in Ireland as the most common surname and is recognized internationally for its Irish Heritage. This heritage is spread around the world and is shown through Murphy’s export, which represents 85% of Murphy’s sale. It was founded in 1856 at Cork City, Ireland. The founders, four brothers, were valued enterprise and narrowed their brewing offerings to the stout market. Murphy’s used to grow porter before it switched to stout. Stout is a black-malted-barley filled with nitrogen and it forms a thick white head upon opening. However, Stout is associated with Guinness, the leader in stouts. MBIL was facing a really crucial time.

This case examines the marketing of Murphy’s Irish Stout at the time of the merger between Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. Murphy is owned by Heineken International and has expanded its scope beyond Ireland in recent years. However, the brand is a distant second internationally to Guinness in the stout category. Furthermore, the company...