AMSTEL CANADA LAUNCHES LAKER, ATRUE CANADIAN BEER' Heineken cycling club visits Pedavena neken For the past two years Heineken beer has been brewed under licence in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican's unfamiliarity with Heineken and the comparatively wide price difference between Heineken beer and local brands meant that sales growth was too low. But that's now going to change. Over the past six months preparations have been made to reintroduce the Costa Ricans to Heineken beer. Film festival Cooperation "A true Canadian beer" is how marketing manager Peter Dadzis of Amstel Brewery Canada describes the new Laker brand. The new lager was put onto the market several months ago in Ontario Province by Heineken's Canadian operating company. Development work on this new beer took seven teen months. Names Packaging Investments HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 15 PAGE7 Sleeves rolled up for Heineken in Costa Rica Early July brought the start of an ambitious publicity and promotion campaign aimed at the trade and the consumer. On 1st July the 350- man sales and promotions team of our partner Cerveceria Costa Rica held a meeting in San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. Under the motto 'Heineken y yo, hacemos equipos' (Heineken and me, we're a team) the sales representatives were informed about the new campaign, whilst an audio-visual presentation about Heineken in the world and in Costa Rica was given by Mr. J.G.C.M. Janssen, area marketing manager for the Carib bean and Central America. Mr. Janssen describes the new approach: "The campaign consists of three elements: motivating the sales force, re-activating the trade, and starting up a new advertising and promotional campaign based on the message 'Heineken, porque te la ganaste' (Heineken, because you deserve it)." Mr. Janssen gave his presentation only five days after Holland had become European football champions. Since soccer is Costa Rica's national sport, Mr. Janssen was greeted with loud cheers. "I felt like I'd actually been one of our team playing in Germany." The advertising campaign comprises publicity on TV and radio, on billboards and in cinemas, in newspapers and magazines. Last month there was also a festival of Dutch cinema films in San José and that gave an excellent opportunity for screening the new Heineken commercials and for a Heineken feature film to included in the preliminary programme. The trade was supplied with The 350 sales and promotions repre sentatives of Cerveceria Costa Rica during the launch of the new campaign. extensive promotional material and was informed about the publicity efforts that will be devoted to Heineken in Costa Rica over the next eighteen months. An exclusive Heineken promo tion is now being held, targeted at consumer, trade and sales repre sentatives. The first prize is certainly attractive: the winning consumer - together with his local bar owner and the salesman for that district - can fly off to Europe for a one-week holiday. In the Nether lands they will of course visit one of Heineken's breweries. Mr. Janssen: "A consumer promotion exclusive to Heineken is unique in Costa Rica, where our partner holds a monopoly position. Cerveceria Costa Rica was only accustomed to a general promotion of beer drinking, with the various brands all being treated more or less equally. The premium chracter of Heineken beer was not brought enough to the fore in such campaigns." The re-introduction of Heineken beer in Costa Rica is being accom panied by a unique form of cooper ation between two of Heineken's international partners. The Heine ken brand manager in the Domini can Republic, Mr. Francklin Léon, has been temporarily detached to Costa Rica to supervise all the activities. "Our international position is clearly bearing fruit here. Heineken beer has been on the market in the Dominican Republic for three years. After some initial difficulties Heineken beer is now growing strongly in the Dominican Republic. The experi ences gained there are now being put into practice in helping to develop our market in Costa Rica. A sort of international cross-fertili sation which is highly appreciated by all concerned", says Mr. Janssen. Much effort is therefore being made to ensure success for Heine ken in Costa Rica, as this may have a ripple effect towards the other Central American countries where Heineken is as yet hardly represented. For Cerveceria Costa Rica the brewing of Heineken beer is important. It is the only Central American brewery which brews Heineken and it is proud of the fact. For if you are granted a licence to brew Heineken, you know for sure that your brewery's technical facilities are excellent. Mr. Janssen during his presentation to the sales force of Cerveceria Costa Rica. After 1205 kilometres, divided into eight stages, fourteen cyclists and three helpers from the Heine ken cycle touring club Alweerweg in 's-Hertogenbosch arrived at the Dreher brewery in Pedavena on Thursday 9 June. The journey down to Italy, which had been preceded by a year of preparations, was the climax in a series of activities being organised by Alweerweg this year to mark the club's ten-year anniversary. The trip to Pedavena was gruelling. The Austrian Alps in particular brought some steep climbs. And yet, only one day after their arrival, the cyclists were back in the saddle again for a tour around the countryside near Pedavena. On the journey through that beautiful region Alweerweg was accom panied by the local cycling club. Until a short time ago the products brewed by the Amstel Brewery in Hamilton included Amstel, the locally popular Steeler brand, and Grizzly, a Canadian beer brand destined for export to the United States. The marketing department wanted to balance the product portfolio so as to offer a full range of beers. It had to be a beer which was fully in line with the taste preferences of the Canadian drinker (smooth and slightly sweet) so that it could compete effectively on the Ontario beer market. "We started off with a completely blank sheet of paper. We had no name, no product, no target group and no specific taste attributes. We called it 'Project White Paper'", says marketing manager Peter Dadzis. A committee of four specially set up to develop the new beer got down to work in January 1987. Whilst many brews were being tested in the brewery, marketing staff investigated what group of drinkers the new brand should be targeted at, what name should be given to the new beer and what the packaging and advertising activities would have to look like. Finding the right name was one of the most difficult aspects of all the preparatory work. "At one moment we had written down a list of more than 450 names", explains Peter Dadzis. Fifteen sheets of paper filled with possible names. Ultimately, five names were left over. "It had to be a name that is easy to pronounce, easy to remember and would not embar rass anyone in saying it. Besides that, it had to be a neutral name so that we could build up an image aroun^t", says Peter Dadzis. Whitts, York, Heartland, Laker, Griffs and Hart were the six names on the committee's shortlist. After lengthy discussions and consumer research, the committee selected the name Laker as the one which best fulfilled all the conditions. Packaging and advertising, just like the name, are essential elements in the effective marketing of a new beer brand. About 25 proposals were put forward for Laker's design. Eventually it was decided to choose a silver and gold label, with the word Laker written in such a way that it creates an impression of sparkling, splashing water. (Laker is derived from the word lake. Ontario Province is famous for its many lakes). To guarantee sufficient brewing capacity for the extended range, Amstel Brewery Canada made substantial investments in expand ing and modernising the brewery. New fermentation and storage tanks were installed, plus new bottle washing equipment. Thanks to these adaptations, the annual output has been increased from 200,000 to 300,000 hectolitres. 13rclicr

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Heineken International Magazine | 1988 | | pagina 7