Heineken sends winners
to Europe's capitals
Buckler cycling team's first season
The sponsorship deal for the Buckler cycling team runs for 3
years. The team, headed by chef d'equipe Jan Raas, has now
completed its first year. Together with the team sponsor,
Heineken International Magazine looks back on that first sea
son.
Heineken Nederland launched a nation-wide
autumn campaign to promote Heineken beer last
month. Aimed at both consumers and the trade.
Activities
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR. 29 PAGE 5
The Buckler cycling team in action
during the team time trial in the
1990 Tour de France.
a cycle racing team it's very impor
tant to have good contacts with
journalists: 'In the first year we've
built up a good team image. The
press respects the Buckler team and
takes them very seriously. The ex
cellent press presentation at the be
ginning of this year and the issue of
newsletters to keep reporters in
formed about the team were defi
nitely of great help. For me, as a PR
man, it's also very useful to have a
contact person in each operating
company who is fully informed
about the team. In every European
cycling country that means I have
someone I can call on in case of
need. I get a lot of support from the
operating companies, so I'm never
left on my own if any problems
arise.'
'I've been involved with cycle
racing for 25 years now. But I've
never before known a firm that's
approached sports sponsoring in
such an efficient way. 'Total spon
soring' is how I'd describe it', con
cludes Harrie Jansen.
Two sides to the coin
'The first season has been a suc
cess from the sporting angle', says
Thomas Hakkaart, head of Brands
Development and Co-ordination
and responsible for the sponsorship
of the cycle racing team. 'In all, 72
wins were scored. But, as sponsor,
you mustn't just look at the num
ber of wins. You must look above
all at what the sponsorship has
brought for you as sponsor.'
'I have to admit that, publicity-
wise, the Buckler team has not per
formed quite as well it did in sport
ing terms. By publicity-wise I mean
how often the Buckler brand name
One hundred trips can be
won to some of Europe's capital
cities: Paris, Madrid, Rome or
Athens. 'It's the biggest sales
promotion campaign ever held
by a brewery in Holland', says
Heineken beer product man
ager, M. Bolland.
The trips to the European
capitals are not run-of-the-mill
package tours. You won't find
them listed in the averege holi
day brochure. The winners of
these city trips can look forward
to several unforgettable days,
leisurely looking round the less
known sights of the city of their
choice; not the 'tourist traps'
but the out-of-the-way places,
places reflecting the essential
character of each city.
With these exclusive, quality
city trips Heineken beer (num
ber one in Europe) aims to em
phasise the quality image of its
beer in the Netherlands.
To enter the competition,
Heineken drinkers in Holland
have to answer a few simple
questions about Heineken beer
and complete a decider slogan.
The trade can take part in the
promotion by estimating the
number of consumer entries.
For this promotion
Heineken Nederland seeked
closed cooperation with oper
ating companies in Spain,
France, Italy and Greece. Em
ployees of these operating com
panies will welcome the price
winners in the city of their
choice with a drink and a din
ner. in Athens Minas
Mavricakis will be the host, in
Madrid Peter Vogelsang and
Frits Beukers, In Paris Martine
Bouchard-Fageot and in Rome
Phillipo Starache.
was seen on TV and how often
Buckler featured prominently in
newspapers and magazines', con
tinues Thomas Hakkaart. Over the
past year the Sports Marketing Sur
veys bureau made a study of this
for Buckler. Media coverage was
measured in the Netherlands,
Belgium, France, Spain, Italy,
Switzerland, Germany, the UK
and Ireland. Via computations
linked to viewing ratings and read
ership figures, this was converted
into money terms.
'In that respect we're not entirely
satisfied as sponsors. Obviously,
there are various reasons for this.
The cycling team did not have
much success in the classic races
this past season. The team failed to
book any wins in those. And it's
specifically the classics that attract
a lot of media coverage.
The absence of a true tour racing
cyclist also worked against us a lit
tle in the past season. But that gap
has been filled for the new season
by contracting Steven Rooks," not
only a cyclist for the Tour but also a
publicity magnet. On the other
hand, the team did perform well in
the 1990 Tour de France, scoring
three stage victories.'
The Tour de France is by far the
most important race of the year.
Almost 40% of all cycling sports
publicity is devoted to the Tour.
'Further, we shouldn't forget that
we're a new team within the profes
sional cycling world. But I certainly
believe that the Buckler name has
now been established interna
tionally. Over the next two seasons,
therefore, I'm expecting an im
provement publicity-wise', says
Thomas Hakkaart.
The international sponsorship of
the Buckler cycling team involves
all the European operating com
panies. Once every two months the
respective product managers and
public relations people get together
to discuss plans. Working as a
team, they then develop all sorts of
activities in the areas of promo
tion, hospitality, public relations
and advertising. Their aim is to
make maximum use of the benefits
brought by the sponsorship.
Harrie Jansen, Public Relations
Manager for the Buckler cycling
team, handles a major proportion
of the hospitality. 'In principle,
Buckler guests can be present at all
the big one-day events and the ma
jor stage races. This means that
many clients and business relations
of Buckler are given an opportunity
to spend a day really getting to
know the world of cycling at very
close quarters. A look around the
team bus, a good place near the
finish line, riding along in my car in
the publicity caravan; we can offer
all those things. And almost all the
guests we entertained were thrilled
about their day out at a cycle race.
Obviously, we plan to continue this
form of hospitality next year as
well', says Harrie Jansen.
And, as Harrie's experiences
during the Tour de France showed,
Buckler (the drink) also found plen
ty of fans. 'Each day I took along
two trays of cooled Buckler cans in
my car, but that didn't stay a secret
for long amongst the cycling entou
rage. In other words, not only my
guests drank Buckler during the
Tour de France, but also many
sports journalists and the guests of
other teams. That meant that I kept
on having to fill up my stock of
cooled Buckler. Of course, I en
joyed that, and also the fact that
Buckler became a sort of favourite
tipple for the Tour caravan.'
As Public Relations Manager for
The chef d'equipe
Former Dutch cycling star Jan
Raas acted as chef d'equipe (man
ager) of the Buckler racing team
over the past season.
'This season we recorded 72
wins. In my career as a manager
that's a season record. The first
Buckler victory was claimed by
Eric Vanderaerden in the second
stage of the Ster de Bessèges.
Wiebren Veenstra booked the last
win of the season for Buckler in
Belgium's Zwevezele. But the 1990
season also had its disappoint
ments. Especially our failure to win
one of the classics, and that's some
thing that a team of our class really
ought to be able to chalk up', as
serts Jan Raas.
For team managers there's little
time available to dwell on past suc
cesses. The world cup is again one
of the targets for next season. Jan
Raas also aims for a bigger impact
Gerrit Solleveld, nickname 'de Sol',
had a stage win in the 1990 Tourde
France.
in the major international stage
races. Which is why the Buckler
cycling team will also be starting in
the Tour of Spain and the Tour de
France next year.
Jan Raas: 'That's one of the rea
sons why we've brought Steven
Rooks into the team. I've every
confidence that Steven can regain
the superior form he showed in
1988 and 1989 and that he'll be
outstanding in the big tour events.'
Continued on page 6
