INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE I'd walk sideways for a Heineken! 3 4 6 8 G. van Schaik on future of Heineken: Number 27 August 1990 Contents; if page: Top-flight customer service Beer supplies to Greek islands Continued U.K.. growth for Murphy's Stout New crates for Multi Bintang More than a year ago he took over the helm from Mr Heineken: as Chairman of the Board of Directors, G. van Schaik (59) was given the task of steering the business safely into the 'nineties and of preparing it for the changes on the world beer market. Mr Van Schaik was interviewed for The World of Heineken exportmagazine. We thought you'd like to read some of the main points he made in that interview. Strong brands International role Export International personnel magazine. Published six times a year in I 'Exploring new markets and building up brands' Upon his departure as Chair man of the Board Mr Heineken in dicated that throughout the world there are still vast areas unex- ploited by the business. Mr Van Schaik fully agrees with that view and points to some of the fields which van be explored: 'Over the next ten years we will be able to play an active role in new regions such as South America and Eastern Europe. We have to reconnoitre A a those markets and identify the best way of establishing our presence there. This may be via exports, or via a licensing agreement or a par ticipation. In the late 'seventies and early 'eighties Heineken was highly ac tive in acquiring interests in brew eries in Europe. The then Board of Directors had already foreseen that increasingly tighter links would be forged between the countries of Europe; particularly if the EC really gained a solid foothold. Ten years on, we can now draw up a provisional balance sheet: Heineken has meanwhile acquired interests in breweries in France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Ireland.' But Heineken is looking beyond the borders of Europe. The entire world is our market and, with that basic idea in mind, the business must continue to treat Heineken beer as its number one brand, feels Mr Van Schaik. 'Our strategy is to be active internationally with strong beer brands, with the main emphasis focused, as ever, on Heineken beer. But we mustn't have too many international brands. Let me put it even more Suppose you love skin- diving and you also have photography as a hobby. What better than to com bine the two? At any rate you can shoot the most amazing pictures, as the above photo shows. During one of his many dives off the coast of Dub lin, Bill O'Brien, a Heineken beer fan from Ireland, came across a crab on the sea-bed jealously guarding a can of Heineken. Bill didn't hesi tate and grabbed his cam era (for those in the know: the Nikonos IV) and cap tured this unique moment on film. Our thanks go to Bill O'Brien who sent in the photo to Murphy's Brewery in Cork. strongly: our company would have no future if we were to fritter away our marketing activities and divide our attention between too many brands.' A handful of international brands (Heineken, Amstel, Buck ler, Murphy's) is therefore suffi cient from a corporate viewpoint. For the local operating companies which have to work with one or more of these brands, a national brand is often a must. This brand (for instance, Dreher in Italy and El Aguila in Spain) is needed to en able the company to play its own specific role in the local market. 'The operating company has more freedom with such a national brand, but it still has to work ac cording to the guidelines that we draw up to ensure consistency of quality and brand policy.' None the less Mr Van Schaik can see a more international role for a few brands, provided that there is a proven need for such a beer in an other country. 'Suppose that mar ket research in a country shows that a need exists for a product like, say, George Killian from France. If so, we would really have to consider using the brand name for that country, as we obviously should not keep on re-inventing the wheel. It would be foolish if we didn't first look at what's available within the concern.' The tasks and guidelines for the operating companies are clear. The export department, which works only with international brands, has a special part to play in the overall framework. Mr Van Schaik sees a twofold task for this department: 'In the first place Export has to market our international brands in the segments we want to sell them in. We have to be strict about that: if we cannot build up a premium position in that market, then we will not introduce one of our brands.' 'Export's second task is to act as market scouts. The export staff travel a lot. And that's good, as it takes them into markets where they pick up all sorts of signals. And now we come to a very important element. That wealth of experience within Export must also be chan- continued on page 2

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Heineken International Magazine | 1990 | | pagina 1