share the
Low-alcohol
or
alcohol-free
Good flavour prime consideration in developing non-alcoholic beer
In April it went on sale for Spanish customers; the French
have been able to enjoy its taste since June; Ireland and the
Netherlands will follow in September. The drink they're all
talking about is Buckler, a new Heineken beer.
Down to work
150 names
Label
Positive
One of the oldest licences for Heineken beer in the Caribbe
an region is held by the brewery of Desnoes and Geddes Ltd.
in Jamaica. For fifteen years now Heineken beer has been
brewed there and, particularly since last year, with great
success. Both the market share and sales of Heineken beer
have shown substantial growth. "The Jamaican is proud and
self-assured but at the same time is orientated towards the
wider world. Heineken's image in Jamaica links up with this
perfectly."
Milestone
Cooperation
I
PAGE 4
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 15
Buckler: result of
lengthy research
The underlying aim in the devel
opment of Buckler was that the new
product had to possess all the
characteristics that the consumer
expects of a beer - except, of
course, for the alcohol. Heineken's
brewers have succeeded in their
mission: Buckler is a thirst-quench
ing beer with a superb flavour...
and one that can be drunk any time
of the day. The product - made by a
special brewing process - does
contain a negligible quantity of
alcohol. But not much more than
can be found in some other
(alcohol-free) drinks such as fruit
juices.
The idea of marketing a non
alcoholic beer did not come out of
the blueAt Heineken's head office
the development of beers without
alcohol had been closely monitored
for some years before a working
group was first set up in February
1987 to get down to work on
developing our own beer with no
alcohol - but 100% flavour.
Mr. A.J.M. Hakkaart is the man
in our Corporate Advertising
department who is responsible for
The naming of the product
category that Buckler is
classed in leads, almost
inevitably, to quite some
confusion. It's all due to the
fact that product legislation
differs between the various
countries. In France, for
example, beer with less than
1% alcohol can legally be
described as 'bière sans
alcohol' alcohol-free beer).
And that same maximum
percentage allows the beer to
be classed as 'alcohol-free
lager' in the Irish Republic.
The Dutch law has differ
ent requirements. Since
recently beers containing less
than 0.1% alcohol may be
described as alcohol-free,
whilst beers with a maximum
of 0.6% alcohol by volume
are designated as 'low-
alcohol'. In the Netherlands,
therefore, Buckler is
officially labelled as a 'low-
alcohol beer'. In Spain the
rules are different again.
Buckler is not allowed to be
called 'beer' there. Products
with Buckler's low alcohol
percentage must be referred
to by the Spanish term 'Malta
espumoso' (aerated malt
beverage).
product development and, as a
member of the working group, he
was closely involved in the birth of
Buckler. Heineken Technical
Services (HTB) were also
represented in this working group.
Our Spanish operating company El
Aguila was designated as 'lead
country' for the development
project. "El Aguila also had the
biggest interest in the development
of the new product, as non-alcohol
beers have already captured a
sizable proportion of the Spanish
market", says Mr. Hakkaart. In
that market segment El Aguila was
selling 'Aguila Sin', and with a fair
amount of success. But the quality
of Aguila Sin was not considered
optimal^ And that was why El
Aguila was enthusiastic in helping
to develop a non-alcoholic beer,
together with Heineken Technisch
Beheer and Corporate Marketing.
Whilst HTB researched the
technical aspects, other working
group members studied possible
names and packaging designs for
the new product. Mr. Hakkaart:
"We deliberately decided not to
introduce the new product under
the Amstel or Heineken brand
name. It's important that a non
alcoholic beer has an identity of its
own: that's why we looked for a
new name."
The British bureau Interbrand in
London was commissioned to
develop a new brand name which
could be used internationally. Not
an easy task, since some 40,000
beer names are currently registered
throughout the world. From the list
of 150 names suggested by Inter-
brand only two names ultimately
remained after all the research into
linguistics, trade-mark law and
consumer acceptance. These were
Buckler and Norlander. The choice
fell on Buckler, as this name offers
the best possibilities for use as an
international brand name.
But that did not mean that the
working group's assignment was
over. A product name had been
selected, but what would the label
have to look like? "You can
approach a product like Buckler
from two angles", explains Mr.
Hakkaart. "You can look upon it as
a beer without alcohol, or as a non
alcoholic soft drink for adult
consumers. This has to be taken
into account in your label design.
The label should convey either a
beer-like character or that of a soft
drink."
In Spain, the Netherlands, the
United States and France research
then started into the question 'how
does Buckler compare with the
competition as regards product,
name, packaging and image?' This
research revealed not only that the
beer-based approach offered the
best opportunities but also that
Buckler had a very high score
compared to the competing brands.
Buckler has meanwhile been on
the Spanish market for some time.
Buckler's predecessor, Aguila Sin,
will be phased out gradually.
Buckler is doing very well in Spain
and expectations are pitched high.
In France the consumer launch of
Buckler was delayed slightly
because production of the TV
commercial took somewhat longer
than planned. Mid-June saw the
first screening of the Buckler TV
spot on French television.
However, the trade in France had
already been informed in advance
Many proposed versions were assessed before Buckler's definitive label
(below right) was finally approved.
about Buckler and responded in a
very positive way. For the French
market Buckler will be brewed for
the time being at the Heineken
brewery in 's-Hertogenbosch. In
due course Frangaise de Brasserie
will brew Buckler itself. The
brewery in Den Bosch will also be
producing Buckler for the Dutch
and Irish markets.
In the latter two markets the
product's launch will start next
month. The Export department is
now looking into the possibilities
that exist for Buckler in other
countries in Europe and elsewhere
Fifteen years Heineken
beer licence in Jamaica
J.G.C.M. Janssen, area market
ing manager for the Caribbean and
Central America, is obviously
pleased about the good results of
Desnoes Geddes, in which Hei
neken meanwhile owns 21% of the
shares. Heineken recently expand
ed its stake in Desnoes Geddes
from 10% to 21% in exchange for
Desnoes Geddes taking an inter
est of 10% in the Windward and
Leeward Brewery on St. Lucia.
"Winning a place in the heart and
lifestyle of the Jamaican is difficult.
But once you succeed, you're made
As we've certainly found. We can
scarcely keep pace with the growth
in demand. This is also one of the
reasons why the brewery is being
expanded."
Consumers and the trade in Ja
maica have seen few Heineken
promotional activities over the past
fifteen years. But this will now
change. A great deal of publicity
material is already available and
Heineken also sponsors such events
Big billboards with the new Heine
ken advertising slogan: "Share the
good feeling..." have recently been
positioned along the roadsides.
as jazz concerts and the Caribbean
Golf Tournament. A new advertis
ing campaign has also been devised
based on the message: "Heineken,
share the good feeling.
Fifteen years of Heineken in Ja
maica is a milestone. In the autumn
this will be celebrated by giving a
big party for the employees of Des
noes Geddes during which there
will be presentations about Heine
ken in the world and, of course,
about Heineken in Jamaica.
The cooperation with Desnoes
Geddes has been strengthened con
siderably over the past year. One of
the results has been a licensing
agreement under which our brew
ery in St. Lucia will brew Red Stripe
beer. The Red Stripe brand is
owned by Desnoes Geddes and
is exported to the United States,
Canada and to countries in the
Caribbean. Following the United
Kingdom, St. Lucia has now be
come the second country in which
Red Stripe is brewed under licence.
The strengthened links with Des
noes Geddes also resulted in the
launch of Greens Sands Shandy in
Jamaica at the end of April. Green
Sands is currently brewed in Trini
dad for export to Jamaica. But
there are plans to start producing
Green Sands under licence in Ja
maica in the future.
"Green Sands, deliciously diffe
rent" is the slogan for two TV spots
specially produced for Jamaican
viewers. Radio commercials and
big posters are also used to draw
consumers' attention to this new
product for Jamica.