N
There are some forty million
Americans of Irish extraction, so that
seems like an interesting target
group. I personally think it would be
even more interesting to reach those
210 million other Americans."
Vice-President Sales Eric Morham
shares Mr Vuyk's confidence in
Murphy's. "The American stout mar
ket is now dominated by another Irish
stout brand. We are concentrating on
the outlets they are not present in. At
the moment Murphy's Irish Stout is
still not sufficiently well-known, but
the chances are good. Two or three
years ago I was much less optimistic
about the chances for Murphy's, but
I've revised my opinion. We have
seen that in recent years Americans
are taking a much greater interest in
specialty beers and we can use that to
our advantage."
Tarwebok
The increased interest shown by
Americans for specialty beers is con
firmed by the strong growth of the
microbrews. These beers - a number
of which are meanwhile produced in
such quantities that it is hardly possi
ble to describe them as the products
of small-scale brewing - have become
really popular.
On the basis of market research
and other surveys Van Munching
found that this tendency cannot be
disregarded. In September 1994 the
distributors were supplied with
Heineken Tarwebok, a smooth-tast
ing bock beer which had been
launched on the Dutch market with a
lot of success one year previously. It is
a seasonal beer and is only obtainable
in the fall.
Buckler
The non alcohol segment is
somewhat diffuse in the United
States. The segment is small and is
never expected to play a role of signi
ficance. As part of Van Munching's
efforts to have a beer brand in its
portfolio in as many segments as pos
sible, Buckler was introduced several
years ago. According to Michael
Foley, General Manager of Van
Munching, the non alcohol segment is
suffering because of the heavy dis
counts granted by the local breweries.
"The non alcohol beer will be here to
stay, but will remain quite modest."
One thing is certain: the high
quality image of Heineken contributes
to the growth of the other brands.
Eric Morham: "Heineken certainly
serves to support products like
Murphy's Irish Stout and Buckler. The
Heineken halo radiates onto the other
products."
In the promotional area, too,
attempts are being made to involve
the other brands, with Heineken not
always automatically playing the
leading role. Manny Busto, Metro
New York division manager, gives an
example: "We held promotions with
Murphy's Irish Stout during the soc
cer World Cup in the United States.
The Ireland-Italy game was played in
New York. We had a tie-in for that
with Murphy's but we also featured
Heineken in the same promotion."
THE WORLD
HEINEKEN
