Ireland wins Match II Award
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NO. 36
PAGE 3
'We've learnt a great deal during this course and obviously
we're very pleased with the Award. But it's also very impor
tant that we've made new friends.' This last comment by
Eamonn O'Sullivan reflected the feelings of all those who
took part in the second MATCH course
Focus of attention on speciality beers
Karl O'Flanagan (2nd from leftand Eamonn O'Sullivan: proud winners of the Match II AwardExtreme left, their
supervisor Rick Bart de Jonge; right, jury chairman Ruud Overgaauw.
Surprise
Eamonn O'Sullivan and Karl
O'Flanagan from Murphy's Brewery
in Ireland had a surprise up their
sleeves at the end of the first day.
They wanted to introduce a product
which (currently) does not exist.
During the background research they
did for their presentation the duo
came across a number of interesting
facts about the Irish beer market. The
statistics revealed a growing tenden
cy for people to make mixed drinks.
Young women in particular often
prefer a mixed drink and this opens
up the possibility of introducing a
'beer' drink, especially as the Irish
beer market is subject to constant
change. Eamonn and Karl are there
fore convinced that the new product
can become a success.
Dominican Republic and Martin den
Dulk from Curasao analysed the
possibilities for the introduction of a
speciality beer on the island of
Cura9ao. The thorough presentation
given by the two made it clear to the
The Caribbean team: Martin den
Dulk and Lourdes Cisneros, and
their two mentors Cees de Soet (left)
and Charles Janssen.
The Dutch team: from left, Jaap Matthijsen, Joris Craandijk and Ruud
Smeets.
Lively
Ruud Smeets, Jaap Mathijsen and
Joris Craandijk (the Netherlands
team) opened the second day with
their presentation which was follow
ed by a lively discussion. The
research conducted by this three
some had led them to the conclusion
that Heineken would have the best
opportunities in the speciality beers
segment. The ensuing discussion
concentrated on the question of the
extent to which Heineken would be
able to put speciality beers on the
market.
Lourdes Cisneros from the
audience that this will certainly be a
success.
Complex
The Italian team, made up of
Antonella Brugnola, Gianfranco
Zanellati and Paolo Perelli, faced the
tough challenge of trying to keep the
previous year's Match Award in
Italian hands.
The Italian beer market is highly
complex. Sales of pilsener lagers are
faltering, but the specialities segment
reveals growth. Italian beer drinkers
constantly seek new beers and parti
cularly the exotic brands (chiefly
The best
The jury decided unanimously to
confer the second Match Award on
the Irish team. 'In our judging we
have looked for the best combination
of creativeness and realism, under
standing and application of the cour
se know-how, presentation techni
que, quality of analysis and the deg
ree of innovation. Ireland was the
best.'
So, where do things go from here?
Was the Match assignment purely
theoretical or did the presentations
form the basis for actual product
launches? For competitive reasons
we have not given the names of the
speciality beers, as the results of the
Match presentations are scrutinised
very seriously in several markets.
There could be no better proof that
the second Match course links up
perfectly with actual practice.
The venue for the marketing cour
se was the Koetshuis training centre
at De Hooge Vuursche Castle in
Baarn, Holland. Sixteen participants
from seven countries got together in
September for the first two-week
module in which all sorts of detailed
marketing aspects were intensively
studied.
This was the second time that the
MATCH course had been held and it
was very different from the previous
year's course. Shiona Kamermans,
who monitored Match I on behalf of
Corporate Human Resources,
explains why: 'Over the past year a
new corporate strategy has been
developed and the course therefore
differed considerably from last
year's in a number of respects.
Besides, the emphasis in the 1990
course had been more on strategic
marketing, whilst this time we took
very much of a practice-based ap
proach.'
Following a two-day course in
Zoeterwoude about the (brew-)tech-
nical aspects of beer, the group tra
velled back to Baarn to present the
results of their assignment during the
second module.
The jury, consisting of Ruud
Overgaauw (Director Marketing
Strategy Policy), Albert
Veldkamp and Angela Rushton, lis
tened to the presentations, posed
searching questions together with the
supervisors and then deliberated on
who would be the winners of the
1991 Match Award. No easy task,
according to jury chairman
Overgaauw, who thought that all the
presentations were of a very high
standard.
Fast-moving
France set the ball rolling with the
first in the series of presentations.
Gilles Vetillart, Philippe Terrasse,
Programme co-ordinator Treske Spring
in't Veld and Ruud Overgaauw cut the
cake at the end of Match II.
Programme co-ordinator Treske
Spring in't Veld adds: 'Match II was
fun and also hard work. The partici
pants in Match II provided proof of
the new culture. Everyone felt free to
contribute ideas and stimulate each
other's input.'
The contents of the course were
planned by Marketing Strategy
Policy. Particularly Albert
Veldkamp (Manager Marketing
Strategy Policy) was strongly
involved in mapping out the contents
of the course in close co-operation
with the British Chartered Institute
of Marketing. Angela Rushton, who
works for that Institute, was pro
gramme director for Match II.
Assignment
After two weeks of training and
with a wealth of new knowledge, the
course participants set off home
wards again. Everyone was given the
same assignment to take with them:
draw up a plan for the introduction of
a speciality beer in your own market.
All the major topics dealt with in the
course had to be incorporated in the
presentation. Six groups were form
ed: the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy,
Greece, Western Hemisphere and
France.
Eight weeks later the course parti
cipants met again in Holland.
The French team listen carefully to
questions and comments about their
presentation.
Jaques Dutreil and Michel Koutcher
described the present French beer
market and emphasised the attractive
features of speciality beers for
Frangaise de Brasserie; market deve
lopment is fast-moving, Frangaise de
Brasserie is market leader in this seg
ment and the operating company is
also strongly represented in the on-
premise trade, the market sector
which is eminently suitable for the
sale of speciality beers.
Dual aim
Marjan Falek (Netherlands) and
George Kyriakos (Greece) were
given the assignment of introducing a
speciality beer for the Greek market.
In their presentation they made it
clear that the launch of a speciality
beer would have a dual aim: protec
ting the Amstel brand against future
competition and at the same time
boosting the brand image. Marjan
Falek and George Kyriakos clearly
showed that the introduction of a spe
cial beer would achieve these aims.
Marjan Falek and George Kyriakos
tackled the Greek market. Export
manager Kees Brandt was their
mentor.
from Mexico) seem to have grown in
popularity over the past year. The
three-strong team looked for and
The Italian team looked for and
found an 'exotic' beer brand for the
complex Italian market.
found an exotic beer which would
perform well as a speciality on the
Italian market.
