Mr. Rodney
Habbershaw is still
getting used to
riding his bike through
Amsterdam. He sees a
bright future for his
department: 'Export
still offers us a world
of opportunities.
of change in the beer world is picking
up speed all the time. Consumers are
being confronted with new or rediscov
ered beer types and tastes, new pack
forms are being developed, changes are
occurring in the role of the trade, auto
mation is making headway in all sorts
of sectors, and so on.'
Marketeers
Within such a changing world the
role of marketing is, in Mr. Habber-
shaw's view, becoming more and more
important. 'I think that the export man
agers, besides being traders, ought to
become marketeers more and more.
Here we shouldn't just think about de
veloping new brands and products, but
above all about optimising the perfor
mance of our existing brands. For
example, take a brand like Amstel. It
has a good international position and
is flexible enough to permit different
positionings in different markets.
Heineken and Amstel can operate excel
lently together in one market. Both
brands have a distinct personality.'
'I am also convinced that Amstel
Light has a bright future. The interest
in light products which emerged in the
United States several years ago is
spreading to other continents. For the
same reason we can also see many pos
sibilities for our newly developed non
alcoholic beer Buckler. We'll still need
much effort to get Buckler on the mar
kets world-wide, but the product is a
superb supplement to the total range.
But, incidentally, all this attention for
other beer brands doesn't mean that the
role of Heineken and Amstel will di
minish. I still see enormous growth po
tential for these brands. Honestly, we
still have a whole world of opportunities
and I have no intention of letting them
slip by!'
Motivation
Mr. Habbershaw acknowledges the
vital importance of a good relationship
with agents, importers and distributors:
'They represent the Heineken concern
and they have helped to make our
brands develop so strongly. It's there
fore our job to continue to support and
motivate them. They have to understand
what we want, but we certainly also
have to understand what they want!'
Fact-finding on local markets, get
ting to know customers better, moving
closer to the customer, and constantly
working to improve the standard of our
service to customers. A newly de
veloped order handling and processing
system is currently being implemented
with the aim of speeding up and impro
ving the route between brewery and
customer. All these are areas of atten
tion for Mr. Habbershaw.
The new Export Director wants to
pass on his confidence in the Heineken
company to his customers. 'Confidence
breeds success. To create confidence
you need good communication. Com
munication within the company but also
with customers with the aim of ensuring
that all-important interaction with
them.'
Balance
The strong growth in the number of
participations, particularly in Europe
over the past fifteen years, has scarcely
had an influence on Heineken Export's
results, believes Mr. Habbershaw. 'Ex
port has intensified its focus on other
markets and has decentralised a part
of its activities so that it can operate
closer to the market. Working from local
branches in Australia, Switzerland, Sin
gapore and on Curasao is therefore be
ginning to bear fruit.'
19
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
