w impulse for Heineken
in Norway
32
Promotions for consumers as
well as for the on-premise and
the take-home channel, plus
commercials on radio and television.
These were the cornerstones for the
relaunch of Heineken Beer, which is
brewed under licence in Norway by
Ringnes. The relaunch can be split
into three parts. The introduction of
Heineken Class One (more about this
later) alongside the existing
Heineken, intensified marketing
efforts, especially in the area of
advertising and sales promotion
activities, and emphasis on sales of
Heineken in the 35 cl bottle.
Duties
Almost the only beers available on the
Norwegian market are locally brew
ed beers (in the
tising and promotions. "For a few
years we are willing to accept a lower
contribution in order to become
profitable over the longer term", says
Mr Greeve.
Premium
The aim of the relaunch is to re
position Heineken Beer in the Nor
wegian market and bring it into line
with Heineken's position elsewhere in
the world; emphasising the premium
nature of the product and rejuve
nating the brand image. The premi
um segment in the Norwegian market
is still underdeveloped and Ringnes
can also see excellent opportunities
for Heineken to achieve its objective -
a dominant position in this segment.
One of the ways of bringing the
standard pack
sizes of 35, 50 and
70 cl), since
imported beers
are not profitable
because of extre
mely high duties on one-way packs.
The standard of living of the Nor
wegians may be very high, but the
same also applies to the cost of living.
Even by Norwegian standards beer is
an extremely expensive product, the
reason being that the country has the
world's highest excise duties on beer.
Satisfactory
Heineken has been brewed under
licence in Norway since 1975. The
start was promising and volume deve
loped very satisfactorily. In the years
that followed sales of Heineken were
caught in a downward spiral. Michel
Greeve, International Marketing
Manager, was instructed to turn the
tide and improve the image of
Heineken Beer in Norway.
In cooperation with the marketing
management of Ringnes, a relaunch
plan was developed consisting of sub
stantial investments chiefly in adver
Heineken Beer is busy rebuilding its presence in
Norway. A large-scale relaunch started in March
this year.
Heineken image in Norway into line
with that in the rest of the world is to
refocus the marketing efforts on
boosting the sales of the 35 cl bottle.
At the present time the 70 cl bottle
accounts for the lion's share of
Heineken sales in the take-home
channel. Since this format does not
have a premium image for the
Norwegian market, the 35 cl bottle is
being promoted amongst consumers.
I ,el t o I
To establish a presence in the Tettol'
segment as well, it has been decided
to introduce Heineken Class One.
This beer contains 2.25% alcohol. For
the introduction of Heineken Class
One a television commercial has been
produced by J. Walter Thompson,
Heineken's network advertising agen
cy in Europe. Advertising for alcoho
lic beverages is subjected to strict rul
es in Norway. These rules are closely
linked to the various classes of beers.
Class one covers beers with a
maximum of 2.5% alcohol, whilst
class two (which accounts for ninety
per cent of the beer market) is allow
ed to contain 4.75% alcohol at most.
Class three is for beers with more
than 4.75% alcohol. Advertising is
only permitted for class one and non-
alcohol beers.
Promotions
Promotions have been organised in
recent months both for the trade and
the take-home channel as well as for
the on premise sector and consumers.
Brandmanager T.E. Bakken of
Ringnes: "The outlets of all Heineken
accounts can compete for a free trip
to Holland to attend the Holland v.
Norway soccer international on 9
June. The store which sells most
Heineken Beer and which also sells
25% more beer than in the corres
ponding period of last year will
receive admission tickets."
A similar sort of campaign has
also been set up
for the on pre
mise trade, again
with a trip to
the international
match in Holland
as first prize. As
part of this on-trade promotion, staff
of hotels, restaurants and bars had to
collect Heineken crown corks.
Puerto Rico
Consumers in Norway were able to
enter a competition in which the
main prize was a trip to the Heineken
Jazz Festival in Puerto Rico. Inciden
tally, the same promotion was also
organised by Heineken Schweiz and
the prizewinners in Switzerland were
also able to go to Puerto Rico.
Besides advertising and promo
tions, efforts are being made this year
to open up at least ten premium out
lets in the form of Heineken bars. One
bar has meanwhile been opened in
Bergen and two bars are due to be
opened in Oslo. According to Greeve,
the image of these premium bars will
have a positive effect on the desired
positioning of the Heineken brand in
Norway.
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
