Electronic 'mailbox'now linked Europe-wide
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NO. 36 PAGE 6
Satisfaction all round amongst the Heineken employees
involved in the Australian Open Golf Championship
in Melbourne. Satisfaction, because no-one could avoid
noticing Heineken during the tournament.
Faster, cheaper, more efficient, more reliable. The super
latives used to describe 'electronic mail' are based on
practical experience. Not just a hobby for computer buffs,
but a way of speeding up and improving communica
tions. Developments are now starting to take off, says
A.W. Tseng (Corporate Communications Manager), fol
lowing the system link-up at the end of last year of the
first computers in the main European offices in Athens,
Madrid, Cork, Paris and Milan.
Sponsorship of Australian Open
strengthens Heineken's position
The Golf Championship 'Down
Under' achieves a lot for the brand.
Many years ago Heineken pioneered
the imported beers segment in
Australia. And successfully, as
Heineken beer is doing well in
Australia.
But the total beer market in the
land of kangaroos and koala bears is
under pressure. In the segment in
which Heineken operates there has
been a tremendous influx of other
suppliers. Heineken was first on the
scene, but today some 200 imported
brands compete on the Australian
market. Despite this keener competi
tion Heineken has succeeded in
maintaining its position.Sponsorship
of the Open is important for the
image of Heineken in Australia.
During the four days of the tourna
ment, the event could be followed
Wayne Riley enjoys the Heineken taste after winning
the Australian Open.
fully comments Jan Beijerinck,
global sponsorship manager of
Heineken. 'Exposure on television,
in as many countries as possible,
conveying the Heineken image as
widely as possible, that's the basic
aim of the exercise.'
Greg Norman in action.
As the main sponsor of this pres
tige golf tournament, Heineken had
its banners flying in big numbers on
the site of the 100-year-old Royal
Melbourne Golf Club. The Heineken
boarding was prominently but taste
fully visible around the greens, and
the marshals and caddies sported
distinctive Heineken clothing.
Responsible for the total decor was
Tony Roosenburg, who supervises
the sponsorship presentation on
Heineken's behalf during the
Australian Open.
live on television for a total of
22 hours. Plus edited highlights of
the each day's play. But Australian
TV viewers were not the only ones
who could enjoy watching the per
formances of top golfers like
Ian Baker Finch (winner of the 1991
British Open), Greg Norman, Wayne
Riley and Steven Richardson. The
pictures were broadcast world-wide.
'And that is also an important reason
for sponsorships of this kind', cheer-
inekeri
Nowadays, if you want to keep
abreast of developments, informa
tion is essential. And that exchange
of information has to be achieved at
an ever faster speed. Many docu
ments are still sent by courier. But
having to wait three days for a
courier delivery to arrive from
abroad can be frustrating. The solu
tion to the problem is simple: an
electronic 'mailbox'.
Such a computerised communi
cations system (Heineken uses
the 'cc:Mail' program) makes it
possible for information to be trans
mitted from the user's own PC, via
the telephone line, to a colleague-
user in another location. That infor
mation may be a straightforward
letter or a brief message. But
cc:Mail can also transmit data files
or even graphics files to the desti
nation address within seconds.
Productivity
Actual benefits of the time sa
ving offered by cc:Mail are higher
productivity within the business,
the possibility of taking faster deci
sions - which means that we can all
work more cost-effectively. Even
for those day-to-day routine jobs
cc:Mail has also proved its worth.
Tseng: 'Research has shown that
thirty per cent of all telephone calls
do not 'get through' because the
person you're dialling can't be
reached. Instead of trying again
later in the day, it's better to send a
message via cc:Mail. When the
addressee gets back to his desk, a
signal on his PC screen shows him
that a message has arrived and he
can then reply.'
Interim phase
In the Netherlands cc:Mail
forms part of a network which links
together Heineken Corporate,
Heineken Technical Services and
Heineken Nederland. Some 450
people have a PC on their desks
which is linked up to the cc:Mail
program and their numbers are gro
wing all the time. For the operating
companies in Europe an interim
phase has been chosen.
In all the main European offices
one PC has been installed in a cen
tral location and communications
can pass via this machine. The sys
tem administrator working at that
PC acts as a 'mailman'. All the
people in the operating company
who have regular contact with
'Holland' are listed in the cc:Mail
program. The system administrator
notifies the persons concerned who
then retrieve the messages intended
for them. The administrator can
also distribute messages to other
people who are not included in the
cc:Mail address lists.
Business units
Provisionally the main offices in
Athens, Madrid, Cork, Milan and
Paris will have one PC, but exten
sions to the system are already
being considered. The management
of Athenian Brewery, for instance,
is currently thinking of using this
same system to improve communi
cations with its own business units.
Murphy's would also benefit from
faster and more efficient communi
cation with its important Dublin
office.
Fran^aise de Brasserie already
had its own network, known as
Minitel. Thanks to a link-up
between cc:Mail and Minitel some
300 people at Franqaise de
Brasserie are now able to commu
nicate quickly with users outside
France.
An additional advantage of
cc:Mail is that it gives an operating
company the possibility of contac
ting a colleague in another country.
The Financial Manager in Madrid
can consult with his colleague in
Milan, the Marketing Manager in
Cork can send a message to his col
league in Athens. With one key
stroke it is also possible to send the
same message to a number of diffe
rent addressees.
A consolidation of the present
system is planned for 1992. In addi
tion a study is being made into the
link-up of cc:Mail in the
Netherlands with other Heineken
operations throughout the world.
