The Murphy Brewery will be renamed Heineken Ireland to reflect the Cork brewery's most successful product.

Heineken International bought the assets of the brewery in 1983 and 85 per cent of its output is now Heineken lager, a brand that has made inroads into the growing Irish lager market. Murphy's Stout has increasingly become a niche product - something that is reflected in the new corporate identity. As a salve to some brewery workers' objections to the name change, the Murphy Brewery name is still going to survive, but only as part of the address.

The new corporate identity was developed in the parent company in Amsterdam. Implementing the changes in Cork will cost about £250,000 (€317,430). Dublin agency DDFH&B has been commissioned to devise a press campaign to announce the name change.

Heineken jostles with Budweiser for pre-eminence in the Irish lager market. It has 31.5 per cent of the lager market and 38 per cent of the draught lager market.

Last year its media spend behind the brand was £4 million. It is currently spending over £1 million on a striking, mostly outdoor campaign to advertise the Heineken Green Energy summer festivals.

By comparison, Murphy's Stout is increasingly becoming a niche brand. Since 1999 its marketing in Ireland has been almost entirely restricted to the Munster area.

According to Alistair Spink, the company's marketing manager, this is because intensive and therefore expensive marketing of the brand nationally hasn't worked in the past.

The new strategy for the stout, says Mr Spink, is "to build on the strength of the brand in our own heartland".

It's a strategy that appears to be working, with one in every three pints of stout now sold in Cork being Murphy's. Once the Munster market is strengthened, it aims to grow the brand by rolling out the marketing strategy throughout the country.

In a clear reference to Guinness, Mr Spink says: "When marketing a stout, you can't underestimate the scale of the competition."

Heineken International has brought significant benefits to the Murphy's brand. Aside from an investment of £120 million in the brewery since 1983, the brand benefits from Heineken's far-reaching distribution network. It is now available in 65 countries. Commenting on the new corporate identity Padraic Liston, managing director of Heineken Ireland, said: "In aligning our identity with a globally successful brand like Heineken we will be able effectively to communicate our ambition within the Irish market place and use our internationalism to ensure our brands grow in line with targets and expectations."