A jazzy moment for
Heineken in Hong Kong
Heineken "Ice" Beer?
Heineken Italia acquires
Interbrew Italia
The special link between
Heineken and jazz music
was recently given an extra
impulse by Heineken Hong
Kong in the form of a
month-long series of shows
by well-known jazz musi
cians in a number of top-
class outlets under the title
'Heineken Special Mo
ments - A Taste of Jazz'. A
promotion was also tied in
with this event.
Jazz music is increas
ingly popular in Hong
Kong; particularly amongst
the public who visit the up
scale outlets, there is great
interest for this type of
music. In Hong Kong - just
like almost everywhere in
the world - Heineken Beer
is also a premium brand
with status and so the link
between Heineken and
music meant that this event
hit the bull's eye. The
musicians who treated the
public to 'a Taste of Jazz'
were Eugene Pao from
Hong Kong, Fumio Itabashi
and Kazutoki Umezu from
Japan, and Buddy Corner
from the United States.
Heineken Hong Kong
also coupled a promotion to
the event. Customers who
ordered two or more bot
tles or cans of Heineken
during a show received a
special, limited-edition
Heineken CD. For every
bottle or can of Heineken
the customer also received
a lucky draw coupon.
Draws were made each day
and the winners received a
Heineken wallet or a
Heineken beer glass. All
coupons also went into the
Grand Lucky Draw whose
main prize was a trip to
Europe for two.
27
How does a vendor keep
stocks of Heineken Beer
cool and stay mobile at the
same time? Heineken
importer John Restrepo in
Colombia found the perfect
solution. He converted an
ice-cream cart into a beer-
mobile so that Heineken
can be sold very easily in
all sorts of locations: on
beaches, in the streets, at
fairs and during concerts.
For importer John Restrepo
the converted ice-cream
cart has brought excellent
sales.
Several months ago
Heineken Italia, a wholly
owned subsidiary of
Heineken N.V., reached
agreement with the Belgian
beer group Interbrew on
the full acquisition of
Interbrew Italia. As a result
Heineken Italia has
strengthened its position on
the highly competitive beer
market. It has also boosted
its distribution strength. As
a result of the acquisition
Heineken Italia now has a
market share of 50%,
making it joint market
leader.
Interbrew Italia consists
of a brewery and a distribu
tion organisation in the
north of the country. The
brewery has a production
capacity of one million
hectolitres. It brews the
local brand Classica von
Wunster and Stella Artois.
The local brand will be
acquired by Heineken
Italia, whilst Stella Artois
will be brewed under
licence by Heineken Italia.
Interbrew decided to
sell its Italian company
because it came to the con
clusion that the Italian
operation was too small to
be a success in the highly
competitive Italian beer
market.
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
Heineken special moments
a faó fe o f