"[""jeineken Schweiz i
28
In September the 12-pack for the
home consumption market was
introduced in the French-
speaking part of Switzerland. Michel
Greeve expects that this addition to
the range will bring more sales be
cause of an increase in the number of
bottles bought per shopping trip. He
also anticipates a growth in the shelf
space set aside for Heineken in the
supermarkets, giving the product a
more visible consumer profile. The
intention is that in a next phase the
12-pack will also find its way onto
shop shelves in the German-speaking
part of Switzerland.
The range for the home consump
tion segment already consisted of the
25 cl bottle in a six-pack, the 33 cl can
and the 50 cl can. Heineken in cans is
seen by the Swiss as an off-premise
product. But there are a few excep
tions. Greeve: 'We're now seeing a
new trend. In some trendy bars cus
tomers like to be seen drinking
Heineken beer straight from the can
instead of Heineken on draught. In
that way they aim to stand out from
the crowd.' Michel Greeve cannot see
this trend growing spectacularly in
the next few years, as it only involves
a few bars. But the trend certainly
reflects the prestige image which
Heineken beer enjoys in Switzerland.
Returnables
Last year Heineken Schweiz, in
cooperation with distributor Distrom
S.A., started introducing returnable
bottles. Because of environmental
considerations the government want
ed beer and soft drink producers to
change over partially to returnable
packaging. Besides this, Heineken
Schweiz was receiving more and
more signals from the on-premise
trade about difficulties in disposing of
so many bottles. In response to these
signals and the government's recom
mendation a start was made with 25 cl
and 33 cl returnable bottles.
The project is a great success, says
Michel Greeve. If keg beer is in
cluded, about one-third of the total
sales volume is now sold in multi-trip
packaging and Greeve expects this
share to grow further.
Promotions
In the promotions area, too,
Heineken Schweiz is not sitting still.
Marketing manager Mario Ramildi
says that the 'Rubble Karte' is very
popular in the on-premise trade. The
principle is simple: any bar visitor
who buys a glass of Heineken beer is
given a 'rubble card'. The customer
then scratches off a silver-coloured
area to see whether he's won a free
glass of Heineken beer. It's a well-
tried method but success is guar
anteed.
T II K VV O l< I, I) O I H i: I N K K K N
Last year The World of
Heineken focused in de
tail on the position of
Heineken in Switzer
land. One year later
manager Michel Greeve
can report that many
activities have been
initiated or are in the
pipeline: an extension
of the range, returnable
packaging and promo
tions.
