This week marks a milestone for The Irish Marketing Podcast, powered by IMJ and Tinpot Productions, as the show celebrates its first anniversary and 52 episodes of conversations with some of the leading figures in Irish marketing, advertising and media. To mark the occasion, we have a prize to give away. But first of all, please read on.
This week host Daryl is joined by Fergal Carol, co-founder of challenger brand and brewer Fierce Mild, Ireland’s first dedicated non-alcoholic brewery which is based in Dundalk, Co Louth, a town once famed for manufacturing Harp lager and Macardles red ale.
Carol’s route into brewing, however, began far from Dundalk. After studying hospitality management in Dublin and working at The Merrion Hotel, he moved to Melbourne in 2011, where he immersed himself in Australia’s progressive food, drink and craft beer scene. A home-brewing kit received for his 30th birthday eventually led to work in professional breweries and laid the foundations for Fierce Mild, whose beers draw heavily on the techniques, flavours and brewing culture Carol encountered in Australia.
Back in Ireland, Carol and co-founder Colm are now looking to capitalise on the rapid growth of the non-alcoholic category. With the Irish market projected to grow from around €50 million to €150 million, Fierce Mild is taking on much larger multinational competitors with products including its new Lively Lager, developed over two years using low-temperature reverse osmosis and extended cold conditioning to retain flavour and body.
But brewing the product is only part of the challenge. With brand awareness still a fraction of that enjoyed by Heineken 0.0, Fierce Mild has turned to a deliberately provocative marketing strategy. Its “Ask for the Irish One” campaign has included guerrilla activity targeting key competitor locations in Dublin, reflecting a broader ambition to carve out a distinctive Irish position in a category where moderation, as Carol puts it, has now become mainstream.
In this anniversary episode, Carol talks about entrepreneurship, product development, challenger-brand marketing and the cultural shift that has transformed alcohol-free beer from a compromise into a genuine consumer choice. And to mark the podcast’s first birthday, listeners aged 18 and over can also enter a competition to win a three-month supply of Fierce Mild beer and merchandise worth €250 by emailing pod@tinpot.ie with “competition” in the subject line. The first name drawn out of the hat wins the prize.
