Bacardi Premium Black on Dutch
market in May
Colourful zoo surrounds new
head office site
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 13
PAGE 3
'The Dutch are always talking about the weather'
His full name is Francisco Javier Ger Rodriguez de Austria, but
his colleagues at the Heineken office in Zoeterwoude call him
"Ger" for short. The Head of Engineering at our Spanish
brewery El Aguila has been detached to the Netherlands for one
year to gain expertise. What's it like, living and working in a
completely different culture for a whole year? A chat with a man
for whom one surprise followed another.
Francisco Ger (aged 40) has no
grumbles about the weather in
Holland, which is perhaps unusual
Having a chat
What did he think about his
colleagues in Zoeterwoude? "The
people are very pleasant, very
polite, but a bit reserved. In Hol
land people go straight home after
work. That took me a long time to
get used to. In Spain it's quite
normal to go along to the pub for an
hour after work and have a chat
with your colleagues. I've also
noticed that it's more difficult to get
talking to people in Dutch cafés.
You have to have been in the same
café a couple oftimes before people
come up and talk to you. In Spain
you can go into a strange bar and
within five minutes you're
standing chatting away to the other
customers."
much he has to pay. I think that's an
odd habit!" says Mr. Ger.
Method of working
Does Mr. Ger see many differ
ences between the way of working
in Holland and in Spain? Spaniards
are renowned as being good impro-
visers, which makes them fast at
solving problems. "The differences
are not very big, but I sometimes
get very impatient when a decision
has still not been taken on a matter
which I feel is completely cut-and-
dried. But you have to remember
that, particularly where big projects
are involved, you have to work
more according to the rules and be
more cautious."
On the whole Mr. Ger is quite
happy about his stay in Holland.
"I'm now brushing up my English
and I'm picking up a few words of
Dutch as well. What's more, I'm
making lots of new friends and
getting to know the Dutch culture.
It's worth accepting a few inconve
niences to leam all these new
things."
from someone from such a sunny
country. "The weather certainly
isn't all that bad. Dutch people are
always concerned about it and talk
about it all the time, but I think the
weather's quite reasonable. But I
did have trouble with those short
days during the winter months. In
December it was dark by as early as
4.30 p.m. In that month I hired a
car one Monday. There was not
one single day when I could really
see what colour the car was. I drove
to the office in the dark in the
morning and it was dark again
when I got back home. In fact, I had
to wait until the Saturday before
finding out that the car was green!"
Way of life
Mr. Ger has been living in a flat in
Leiden for seven months. His wife
and three children stayed behind
in Madrid. "Sometimes it's diffi
cult, being so far away from your
family. Once every three weeks I
can go home for a weekend, but of
course that's very short. In the
meantime I'd like to get to know
the Dutch way of life, for instance
by doing my own shopping.
Compared to Spain, the super
markets here close very early in the
evening. In Spain you can still go to
the shops at eight o' clock at night."
"I'm sometimes surprised about
Dutch customs. Let me give you an
example: if you go with a whole
crowd to a restaurant in Spain, the
bill is split equally between
everyone. After all, you are going
out with your friends? In Holland
they tend to work out exactly what
each person ordered and how
Next month will see the market launch of Bacardi
Premium Black in the Netherlands. This new rum is
dark-coloured with a full, smooth flavour. Bacardi
Premium Black can be drunk both pure (or with ice)
and mixed. The Dutch Spirits and Wines Group
(SWG), one ofHeineken's subsidiaries in the Nether
lands, handles the distribution and sales of Bacardi
products.
The Netherlands is the fourth country in which
Bacardi is introducing its Premium Black. For some
time now Bacardi fans in the United States, Canada
and West Germany have been able to obtain the new
product.For the Dutch market it is interesting to know
whether the product is proving popular with their
German neighbours. "The first market results from
across the border are very positive", says Mr. N.
Vervelde, SWG's Brands Manager. He is fully
confident about the future of Bacardi Premium Black
in the Netherlands and expects fast growth in the
product's distribution.
Boost
Confidence in the new product is not based solely on
its favourable reception abroad. Findings from supple
mentary consumer research in the Netherlands have
clearly shown that a good market exists for Premium
Black. "The Bacardi brand is the clear market leader
both in the Netherlands and elsewhere. The solid
strength of the Bacardi image will give a nice boost
during the introduction of Bacardi Premium Black",
explains Mr. Vervelde.
In close cooperation with Bacardi an extensive cam
paign has been developed to introduce the product to
consumers. The launch is aimed at building up rapid
consumer awareness of Premium Black, and so the
main thrust of the campaign will be in the coming
summer months. The introduction includes billboard
publicity, advertisements in Dutch daily papers, radio
commercials and TV spots. In addition, a brochure has
been prepared and plenty of point-of-sale publicity
materials are available for the trade, whilst SWG will
also be offering samplings of Premium Black at
consumer fairs.
As to the date when the first results of the introduc
tion will be known, Mr. Vervelde is cautious.
"Normally speaking, you've got to wait at least a year
before you can say whether a product is a success.
Perhaps we'll know more at the end of1988.
Francisco Ger is living
in Holland for a year
All the children who made a drawing, pictured in front of the fence.
Some weeks ago a party was held to unveil the brightly paintedfencing
enclosing the site on which the new extension of Heineken's head office in
Amsterdam is being built. The party-goers were the pupils, teachers and
staff of the "Art is Atelier"studio who created the decorations on the fence.
The fence sutrounding the building site is 16 metres long and four
metres high. The cheerful drawings on the enclosure were done by pupils
oftheArtisA telier. O nee a week they take drawing andpainting lessons in
Amsterdam's Artis Zoo. Naturally, all their creative works depict
animals in the 150-year-old Artis Zoo.
After selecting the most attractive drawings, the course teachers spent
four months enlarging the works they had picked and painting them onto
the fencing panels.
Building work on the new head office extension is meanwhile progres
sing well, despite a rather slow start. The new section of the office is
expected to be ready for use by the end of1988 or the beginning of1989.
Francisco Gerfrom El Aguila is spend
ing a year in Holland. „People are
very pleasant and polite, but a bit
reserved.
Premium Black will be available in Dutch drinks outlets
from next month.
