24
Official opening of the
Heineken office in
Shanghai. From left:
Export Director
Frank van der Minne,
regional export
manager Jack van
Herpen and Li Ming,
manager of the
Shanghai office.
singing talents only to a select compa
ny of guests, separate rooms are
available.
Offices
At the beginning of 1994 the deci
sion was taken in Amsterdam to
further implement the 'close to the
market' principle in China. This
resulted in the official opening of offi
ces in Shanghai and Guangzhou in
mid-November last year.
It is not so surprising that
Heineken decided to M
set up offices in these
two cities. They are
the cities which are
showing the strongest
economic develop
ment, in which pur
chasing power is
growing all the time
and in which people
can afford to buy
the premium priced
Heineken.
The office in
Shanghai is headed by
Li Ming. He also pro
vides the marketing
support for Heineken
Beer in Beijing, the
political and cultural heart of China.
Particularly the sales in Shanghai are
showing healthy growth, despite the
heavy competition. Li Ming: "The size
of the total Shanghai beer market is
difficult to estimate but probably
amounts to about 3 million hectoli
tres. Competition is keen. New brands
keep entering the market, especially
in the import segment."
Heineken Beer in Shanghai main
ly sells well to the foreign tourists, to
the businessmen from Hong Rong,
Taiwan and the West. But sales are
picking up amongst the local nou-
veaux riches and amongst local
Chinese working for foreign compa
nies. Li Ming is pleased with this
development, as he specifically sees
the latter two consumer categories as
his target group. The consistency in
the working method of Export (go for
local) is also being maintained in
China.
opportunities for Heineken in
Shanghai. "Nowadays you also see
more and more expatriates and busi
nessmen coming to Shanghai and, al
though those are not our prime target
group, they do mean extra sales."
Li Ming feels that his main task is
to achieve a further expansion in the
distribution of Heineken in both
Shanghai and Beijing. Sales prospects
for Heineken in Beijing are so positive
that there are sound reasons for
Heineken office in
the Chinese capi-
opening a new
Heineken is not betting all its money on one horse in China. Besides the
steadily growing export activities for the Heineken brand, the company is also
active there in the form of shareholdings. Via Singapore-based Asia Pacific
Breweries (in which Heineken has a 42.5% stake) participations have been
acquired in recent years in the Mila Brewery in Shanghai, in the Fuhzou brewery
in the city of the same name in Southern China, and in a greenfield operation on
the island of Hainan, one of the Special Economic Zones. In Shanghai the Beeb
and Tiger brands are brewed, in the Fuhzou brewery bottles of Rong Cheng are
the end-products of the brewing operation. The new brewery on Hainan Island,
whose construction started several months ago, will produce Tiger beer.
Local brewing of Heineken Beer is not envisaged at the moment, this in view
of the strong Europe-based image of Heineken. Heineken's Dutch heritage in fact
plays a crucial role in communication with the consumer.
Number one
Li Ming believes that the fact that
both the trade and the retailers
regard Heineken as the number one
brand name reflects the great
strength of the brand. Besides, the
brand's European heritage is impor
tant to the Chinese consumer.
European beer is seen as the best
beer. According to Li Ming, the rapid
economic growth still offers sufficient
tal. Incidentally,
the intention is
that even more
sales offices will
be opened in
China in the years
ahead.
Promotions in the
on premise trade,
says Li Ming, are
essential to en
sure that the
Heineken brand is
positioned as the
premium priced
prestigious impor
ted lager. The
organisation and
of promotions in
been assigned by
Heineken to Tait Co., the firm
which acts as the Heineken agent in
Taiwan. The objectives of the promo
tions are also to strengthen top-of-
mind brand awareness and brand loy
alty. This particularly applies to the
nouveau riche category in which, as
Li Ming explains, brand awareness is
still relatively low.
implementation
Shanghai has
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
