I
Wholesalers
Motorbike
Advertising
Success
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 22
PAGE 5
great efforts
still very small, and so the number
of suitable outlets is still limited.
It's not only the representatives
working for Tait who make efforts
for Heineken. The 38 wholesalers
who sell Heineken beer for Tate
also employ salesmen. They, too,
keep their eyes peeled for new cus
tomers. Eric S. Chou, Vice-presi
dent of the Yi-Der-Shing Co.
wholesaling business in Taipei,
explains how this works. "On
radio and television no advertising
is allowed for alcohol. So the work
done by the salesmen to get Heine
ken beer into the marketplace is of
great importance. Our first step is
to send out the salesman with
cooled Heineken beer to a previ
ously selected outlet. He lets the
owner sample the beer to convince
him of its quality. If the proprietor
decides to sell Heineken beer, then
free beer is supplied to the staff of
the outlet during the introductory
period. In that way they, too, can
sadly, it's out of the question for
us."
The only form of advertising
that Tait can use is advertising in
magazines. Newspapers are not
suitable as advertising media
because full colour illustrations are
used for the Heineken adverts to
underline the premium nature of
the product. The print quality of
newspapers in Taiwan is such that
advertising in this medium would
not do the product's image any
good.
During Heineken's first two
years in Taiwan 1987/88) a varia
tion on the well-known internation
al Heineken campaign was used
("When you make a great beer, you
don't have to make a great fuss").
Research showed that the cam
paign did put the message across,
but not optimally. A local advertis
ing agency set to work and devel
oped a new campaign in which
Chinese culture plays a leading
role. The exponent of that culture
is the board game Go. One of the
seized by Heineken Oceania, our
export office in Singapore, in close
cooperation with Tait Co.,
Heineken's agent in Taiwan. Tait
was founded in 1846 by two British
gentlemen, Messrs. Tait and
Bruce. The two partners were
involved in trading in and export
ing tea from China. In 1858 an
office was opened in Taiwan. Tait's
head office is today to be found on
the ninth floor of one of the count
less giant downtown office blocks
in the capital city of Taipei. The
company specialises in consumer
goods. More than a thousand dif
ferent products can be found in
Tait's warehouses: from shampoo
to batteries, from biscuits to
orange juice.
Within the Tait organisation
eighteen salesmen work for Heine
ken. The importance of Taipei
(three million inhabitants) is re
flected in the number of reps
assigned to this city. Eleven of the
salesmen work in the city, which
has the world's highest car density.
Their means of transport is the mo
torbike, since a car drive of only a
couple of miles can take an average
of half an hour. Nipping in and out
of traffic on their motorbikes they
can get to their destination quickly,
a very important factor in view of
their average of 25 visits each day.
The Tait representatives visit
hotels, restaurants and bars and
stores, check stock levels, organise
promotions and develop new on
premise outlets. The latter task in
particular is not simple. Finding
bars and restaurants which will fit
in with the strategy and image of
Heineken beer is difficult because
the market for imported beers is
personally experience the pre
mium character of Heineken beer."
Eric Chou already mentioned
the problem that the salesmen can
only be given limited support from
advertising activities. The Govern
ment of Taiwan had in fact made
the import of beers subject to the
condition that absolutely no form
of 'electronic' advertising (i.e. on
radio/television) was allowed to be
used. Incidentally, that same ban
also applies to the local beer brand.
However, advertising in newspa
pers and magazines is permitted.
David Chen, a director of Tait,
thinks it's a pity that the govern
ment took this step. The Chinese
have made TV-watching their
favourite leisure time activity, and
television advertising is cheap. "A
thirty second commercial at prime
viewing time costs only 2,000 US
dollars. An attractive price but,
advertisements shows a position
on the board which only a few
people can recognise and solve.
The pay-off line therefore carries
the message that Heineken beer is
recognisable only by 'the few' as a
quality beer worth its premium
price: "Heineken. The beer brewed
only for the few".
Those first years were far from
easy and, to build up a solid posi
tion for Heineken in the Taiwan
beer market, Tait's staff and their
team of wholesalers, backed by the
Heineken export office in Singa
pore, have to pull out all the stops
of their creative and inventive tal
ent. Convinced as they are of the
opportunities for the product, they
are also able to make optimum use
of that creativeness. Heineken beer
is heading for success all the per
sons involved in Taiwan are con
vinced of that.
The Heineken promotion girls can also be found in supermarkets, as here in Taipei
imported
itti wwiwwtn
