New slogan at Murphy's sales department:
J. van der Werf retired as Executive Board member
Working areas
Nation-wide
Our company recently took its leave of Mr. J. van der Werf
as a member of the Executive Board of Heineken N. V. For
39 years he put one hundred per cent energy into his work for
Heineken. On the occasion of his farewell he was offered two
receptions: for external contacts and for personnel. During
the reception for external contacts Mr. Van der Werf was, to
his complete surprise, appointed an Officer in the Order of
Oranje Nassau.
Happy years
Foreign countries
Still so much to do
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 14
PAGE 3
Can I help you?
The times when the Murphy's representative
stepped into a pub, quickly jotted down the order
and sped off to the next pub have now become his
tory. "Our new approach is unique for Ireland. The
representative now has the general task of influenc
ing and increasing the volume of sales. We have set
up a telephone sales section to note down the
orders", explains Commercial Manager Michael
Foley.
Some time was needed for most of the represen
tatives and many publicans to get familiar with the
new manner of working. And so the change-over
was not introduced abruptly. "You couldn't do
that. The publican also has to be given time to get
used to the idea of being able to ask the representa
tive for help", continues Mr. Foley.
In the new situation the representative prepares
himself before visiting the publican, for instance by
studying the computer printouts for that particular
pub. On the basis of the figures he can get together
with the publican to map out a policy for the forth
coming period. "The representative also advises
the landlord on the pub's interior fittings in the form
of Heineken and/or Murphy's advertising, such as
beer mats and illuminated signs. He's also responsi
ble for inspecting the dispensing units. The repre
sentative can now offer a much wider service to the
publican and introduces himself with the words
'Can I help you?"', explains Mr. Foley.
Mr. Foley is responsible for four disciplines with
in the Murphy's organisation: marketing, physical
distribution, technical support, and sales.
The sales department comprises three working
areas: the regional manager with 13 representatives
for the northern part of Ireland, a regional manager
with 12 representatives for the south, and a man
ager who concentrates exclusively on bottled and
canned beer. The latter's work covers the whole of
Ireland. His job is to ensure that Heineken lager
and Murphy's Stout are to be found on the shelves
of as many supermarkets and other shops as possi
ble.
In the autumn every representative prepares a
sales forecast for his area. He discusses these figures
with the regional manager until they agree on a tar
get figure. All forecasts combined represent the es
timated number of hectolitres for the next year.
Every year again Murphy's surprises both friend
and foe by making spectacular forecasts. And even
by exceeding them in practice!
The success may be great, but Murphy's still has
a number of other objectives to fulfil for the Heine
ken and Murphy's brands. A few weeks ago Heine
ken lager achieved real nation-wide distribution for
the first time. Until a short while ago the West of
Ireland had not yet been included in the distribu
tion network. Within the space of a mere four years
Heineken lager has expanded from a local brand
(distributed only in the Cork and Dublin regions) to
become a familiar drink throughout the country.
For Murphy's, too, there are still sufficient op
portunities. Tlte stout may indeed have a gratifying
market share in Cork; elsewhere its share is sub
stantially smaller. "The success of Murphy's Stout
in Great Britain (see elsewhere in this issue, ed.)
may have a favourable impact on its popularity in
Ireland", says Mr. Foley.
One thing that is sure to have a positive influence
on the brand awareness of Murphy's Stout is the
new advertising campaign. Big roadside hoardings
carry the words 'It's a different story', the message
being that Murphy's Stout is not simply a stout like
that of its big rival. "There's no sense in comparing
Murphy's Stout with other brands of stout. Mur
phy's Stout has a flavour and character of its own.
And that's what we want to put across clearly in the
new campaign", says Mr. Foley.
Farewell to a man of
unbridled energy
All eyes are glued to Mr. Huyskens,
who gave a detailed commentary on
Mr. Van der Werf s life story.
The decorations of this royal or
der were presented to him by J. van
der Veen, Director-General of the
Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries, in recognition of his
achievements, including the role he
played in Heineken's expansion
and internationalisation. Mr. Van
der Veen praised the energy that he
had put into his work both for Hei
neken and for society. Mr. Van der
Werf was completely taken by sur
prise when he received this distinc
tion and described it as an incred
ible honour. "My special thanks go
to those who have helped to bring
this about". I know how much time
and effort it takes to nominate
someone for inclusion in the royal
honours list".
All Heineken employees had an
opportunity to shake hands with
Mr. Van der Werf and take their
leave of him on Tuesday, 26 April.
Mr. Van der Werf during his thank-
you speech.
The official part of the meeting
started with a speech by Mr. A.H.
Heineken. After thanking Mr. Van
der Werf for the great amount of
work he had done for Heineken
over all the years, he wished him
many happy years of retirement.
The journalist Pierre Huyskens
then gave a lengthy discourse in
which he presented a humorous
outline of Mr. Van der Werfs life
story. A unique special perfor
mance by the 'Van der Werf Sing
ers', consisting of employees from
the Regional Co-ordination Asia/
Oceania, concluded the official
part of the reception.
It was on 19 April 1949 when Mr.
Van der Werf first took his place
behind one of the desks in the com
pany where he was to spend almost
the next forty years of his life. His
career started in what was then the
'Foreign Countries' department. In
1962 he became director of Heine
ken International and a year later
was also appointed director of Hei
neken Technisch Beheer. In these
posts he was specifically responsi
ble for the financial and economic
affairs of subsidiaries abroad.
In 1965 he exchanged both jobs
for the post of director of Heineken
Brouwerijen Nederland B.V.
Three years later he was one of the
major driving forces behind the
merger between Heineken and
Amstel
Mr. Van der Werf had been a
member of the Executive Board
since 1969. In recent years he bore
overall responsibility for Heineken
activities in the Asia/Oceania re
gion.
Mr. Van der Werf will for the
time being remain busy for Heine
ken. He is closely involved in the
work on a book about Heineken's
history since 1949.
Privately he will be spending a lot
of time on his hobbies: hunting,
classical music and the Dutch lan
guage.
For our company Mr. Van der
Werf can see many possibilities in
store. Despite a saturation of the
beer market in some countries he
sees many chances for Heineken in
the world. "There is still so much to
do", he concludes.
The 'Van der Werf Singers' are
thanked by Mr. Van der Werf for
their musical contribution.
Mr. Van der Werf with the decorations of the royal order.
