bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Kick off your shoes and dance the Macarena . . . all the way to Mexico.

That is the invitation being posted by leading Mexican beer exporters Corona Extra.

Clubs and pubs across Hong Kong are to stage contests devoted to the latest dance craze - re-named the Corona Lime Dance - in November and December.

Winning couples from each venue will compete in a Hong Kong grand final - and the champions will be flown to Mexico City where they will contest the world Corona Lime Dance finals.

'There will be contestants from all the 120 countries importing Corona Extra. It will be a huge party,' said Corona's Asia-Pacific regional manager, Gil Lempert-Schwarz.

For the finalists, the Mexico event will be the answer to every Macarena fan's dream: the chance to dance alongside Los Del Rios, the Spanish group sweeping the world with the biggest disco craze since the Bird Dance.

Even for contestants in Hong Kong, the event promises to be a lot of fun, Mr Lempert-Schwarz said.

'There will be about 10 Corona parties at major venues with lots of prizes, T-shirts and goodies.' Corona has mounted massive advertising campaigns in Hong Kong to corner second place in the imported beer rankings behind Heineken.

It recently teamed up with STAR TV's Channel [V] in a $3.85-million promotion to stage 'Corona Club Nights' live from top nightclubs across the region. The series opened at the Lost City nightclub in Tsim Sha Tsui.

 Mr Lempert-Schwarz said the idea was for Corona to 'buy its own hot dance show' to reach the young beer market of north Asia.

This year, in partnership with Cafe Deco on The Peak, Corona is sponsoring its own Ferrari team at the Macau Grand Prix.

'We are doing some major trail-blazing,' Mr Lempert-Schwarz said.

'Corona is getting bigger and bigger. I wouldn't say we are killing the opposition but we are doing much better. We are really selling Corona just about everywhere now.' Corona's hard sales figures underline the indisputable fact that 1990s-style marketing, with value-added flare and imagination, works.

Hong Kong sales were last year up by 69 per cent to 500,000 cases - the third consecutive year of growth above 50 per cent.

Mr Lempert-Schwarz is forecasting another 50 per cent sales boost this year.

Corona is also thinking green and has ammunition in reserve just in case environmental legislation toughens.

 'It's something I learned from our Corona agent in Vietnam,' Mr Lempert-Schwarz said.

'They cut off the necks of the bottles, grind the rims smooth and sell them as drinking glasses - with our label imprinted on them. It's perfect advertising.' 



First step to overseas trip