Plaza de Torros
attractive
sales venue for
El Aguila
Canary Islands ripe
for Amstel beer
Antiliian Brewery cele
brates jubilee in big way
Bullfighting fans describe it as the most important spot in
Spain: the Plaza de Torros. El Aguila has succeeded in acqui
ring the exclusive rights to sell beer in this stadium. A happy
commercial director Biosca has this to say: "The sales
volume is good, there's a lot of publicity and it benefits the
image of our brands. The combination of these three factors
is what makes Plaza de Torros attractive to us."
Opened thirty years ago:
Trade introduction started last month:
The Antiliian Brewery (Antilliaanse
Brouwerij) on the island of Curasao
celebrates its 30th birthday this
year. To mark this milestone, all
sorts of activities are being
organised throughout the year
for the brewery's own personnel,
its many trade customers and for
consumers.
On the Canary Islands Heineken is flourishing. Heineken
beer is popular with the big numbers of tourists who holiday
there and also with the local population. Because the import-
market is doing so well, Amstel is now being introduced. At
first sight there seems no logic in it. Surely, the Amstel sales
will be achieved at the expense of Heineken beer? Export
manager P. Vogelsang: "We know it is possible, but overall
we believe we'll gain."
Wings
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 24
PAGE 8
The Plaza de Torros will in
future be used for multi-cultural
events. It will of course remain the
Spain's leading arena for bull
fights, but will be increasingly
used for other activities, such as
(pop) concerts and political rallies.
The 1990 schedule includes 73
bullfights and 103 other types of
events.
So there will be more than just
bulls to see in the Plaza de Torros
arena. Spain's traditional bullfigh
ting season started last month.
Major fights will take place in
May. For a three-week period bull
fights will be held every afternoon
and during those weeks the organi
sers will have a guaranteed full
house: 24,000 visitors every after-
Against the background of a poster
advertising the forthcoming bull
fighting season, a stable lad exer
cises one of the horses. These
horses risk their lives when they go
into the bullring.
noon! The stadium has twelve bars
and a great number of hawkers
who walk around the terraces sel
ling snacks and drinks. A total of
168 waiters are there to provide the
public with liquid refreshment. All
the waiters are kitted out in uni
forms bearing the Aguila name.
In the bars, decorated with big
wall posters, the drinks served will
The stadium has a capacity of
24,000 visitors. The most popular
seats are in the shade, as it's no fun
spending hours in the blazing sun
shine.
be Aguila, Adlerbrau, Heineken
and Buckler. The hawkers will
only be selling Aguila. The man
agement of El Aguila has delibera
tely opted for the Aguila brand
because El Aguila's sales team will
be devoting greater attention to the
biggest brand in its range in the
forthcoming period.
The Plaza de Torros in Madrid was
built in 1929.
The festivities started on 23
January this year (30 years to the
day since the brewery's official
opening) with a Holy Mass on the
brewery site for personnel, direc
tors and agents. In addition, a full
page advertisement appeared on
the same day in the local press to
make the brewery's jubilee known
to the public.
Consumers will be emphatically
involved in the jubilee events, for
instance by means of a merengue
festival which will take place both
on Curasao and on the islands of
Bonaire and Aruba. Merengue is a
type of music that enjoys wide
popularity in the Caribbean. The
festival, which will be recorded for
TV, will last from sunset until sun
rise. For the festival on Curasao
both local and foreign bands have
been invited.
Also for the general public Antil
liaanse Brouwerij will be organi
sing a big consumer campaign. It
will be a crown corks campaign
and the winners can look forward
to major prizes like holiday
trips to the United States
and Europe.
difference of some eight per cent",
says Mr Vogelsang who can see
chances galore for Amstel on these
tourist islands off the coast of Afri
ca. "We still see enormous poten
tial on the Canary Islands. The
total beer market now amounts to
1.3 million hectolitres. About
260,000 hectolitres of this is
imported. Provisionally, our target
for Amstel is to achieve a market
share of 5% in the import segment.
We'll be happy with that", claims
Vogelsang.
The introduction of Amstel is
also a response to the changes in
the tourist market. The mass influx
of tourists has stagnated and the
islands are attracting a different
type of tourist. The Canary Islands
are becoming a holiday destination
which is also affordable for tourists
with a smaller budget. The slightly
cheaper Amstel beer may be an
interesting alternative for these tou
rists.
The firm of Recasa S. A. will be
marketing Amstel. This subsidiary
of the local Pepsi Cola bottler will
act as importer. Recasa operates
independently of its 'parent' and
has its own distribution and sales
organisation. As from 12 March
this year Amstel has been officially
on the market in the Canary
Islands. One week before that a
Heineken management trainee set
out for the Canary Islands to make
the preparations and to monitor the
Amstel introduction. The trade was
sent a folder announcing the
launch of Amstel. Next month the
consumers are due to be informed
about the new beer via the newspa
pers and above all via radio and
television.
"Amstel has to be given an iden
tity of its own. We want to avoid it
having to hitch a ride on the wings
of Heineken. It has to stand on its
own two feet. We intend to do that,
for instance, by building in a price
