Case study Encouraging responsible drinking in the USA 36. Chapter 3: The products (continued) Enjoy Heineken Responsibly Heineken USA is committed to being at the forefront of efforts to encourage responsible drinking. The Enjoy Heineken Responsibly (EHR) campaign began in November 2004 to address responsible drinking challenges such as drunk driving, youth access to alcohol and alcohol abuse. This campaign was a natural evolution of the work that had been done in this field over many previous years. A number of different initiatives have been developed around the campaign as part of Heineken's desire to inform consumers about responsible drinking and encouraging appropriate consumption. These range from working closely with communities, health care facilities, government agencies, local distributors and colleges, to providing useful online educational tools and public service announcements about the dangers of alcohol misuse. "Offering our product in a responsible way isn't just the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do," says Suzanne Cosgrove, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Heineken USA. "Americans are sophisticated consumers and there's a lot of research that shows they are more likely to be loyal to companies that really care about their business environment and their impact on society." In 2005, Heineken USA joined forces with the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System and the White Plains Hospital Center to form the Health Alliance on Alcohol as part of a national public initiative to bring attention to the problems of alcohol abuse and underage drinking. The Alliance recently published Talking to Teens: Underage Drinking, the first of a series of nine educational booklets written by independent medical experts aimed at helping parents prevent these problems through effective communication with their children. Heineken USA has also partnered to elicit suggestions from scores of college campuses across the USA for formulating responsible advertising messages to discourage alcohol abuse and misuse among youth. In order to help ensure that none of its advertising even unintentionally has special appeal to those under the legal drinking age or appears to condone irresponsible drinking. Heineken USA established an independent advertising complaint review panel to review any complaints that Heineken consumer advertising violates applicable industry or company Code provisions on responsible marketing. Drunk driving is also being addressed through dedicated awareness campaigns. Heineken frequently provides electronic age-verification systems and/or free taxicab rides at many of the events it sponsors. A 1-800 taxicab number was launched allowing anyone in the USA to instantly contact his or her local taxicab company free of charge. Cosgrove believes 2007 will be an important year for governments, industry and public health organisations to further address alcohol-related problems and promote responsible consumption. For the time being, the EHR campaign is bringing some unexpected positive effects for Heineken USA employees. "I've gotten many responses saying: I feel so good about working for a responsible company that is doing these sort of things," she says. "Some of our marketing managers who were cautious about this campaign to begin with now see how complementary it is to our marketing, because our customers as well as the public generally care about what we do!" Heineken N.V. - 2004/2005 Sustainability Report

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Heineken - Milieuverslag | 2004 | | pagina 38