MEKEN EXPORT IS
ING TOWARDS CHANNEL
AGEMENT"
Heineken Export Director
Marc Bolland:
His office is on the tenth
floor of the World Trade
Centre at Schiphol and over
looks the aircrafts that are
standing ready for take-off
to far-away destinations.
The setting is perfect for a
man who loves internation
al challenges. Marc Bolland
is director of Heineken
Export since the beginning
of this year. He will
- literally - be following in
the footsteps of his prede
cessor Frans van der Minne.
"I'll be continuing on the
path that Frans set out on."
Our talk with the new Export direc
tor starts off a little hesitantly. At our
request he reviews his career with
Heineken, though it's clear that he
doesn't see why this is so necessary.
The spotlight should be focused on
the business, that's his maxim. But
the exception proves the rule. TWelve
years ago Marc Bolland joined
Heineken as Management Trainee,
after which he held positions as
Junior Product Manager and Brand
Manager with Heineken Nederland.
He subsequently moved to the
Vrumona soft drinks company where
he became Sales Manager off premi
se, followed by his appointment as
Commercial Director at Vrumona.
Some three years ago he became
General Manager of the newly acqui
red Zlaty Bazant in Slovakia.
He was 'excited' when he heard
he had been appointed Export
Director. "Heineken Export is a team
that seeks to achieve the same valu
es that I found important in Slovakia
as well: entrepreneurial, energetic,
innovative and, above all, a focus on
people. Besides, I enjoy working
internationally, since the future
growth potential for the Heineken
brand has a worldwide scope."
PASSION
Marc Bolland started his job as the
successor to 'Mr. Export' with appre
ciation for his predecessor's achieve
ments. "I have great respect for what
Frans van der Minne has achieved as
Export Director and as a person. The
present strength and spirit of Export
is attributable to Mr Van der Minne.
My way of working is not a copy of
how Frans approached the job. My
character make-up just happens to
be different, but we both share the
same passion for the market. Here at
Export there has been no revolution
since I've been in charge. We're buil
ding further on what Frans van der
Minne mapped out. It's a continu
ation, not a new direction."
In his years as Export Director
Frans van der Minne emphasised
that the marketing discipline should
be firmly anchored in the organisa
tion and that the number of export
offices should be expanded, under
the motto 'operating as closely as
possible to the market'. Mr Bolland
sees the next step as being one of
creating more depth. "Heineken
Export would like to serve the mark
et more deeply by finding out more
about the operation at the wholesale
and retail trade level. In that way we
can expand the business further,
working closely together with our
distributors. This year we started
implementing the Sources of Growth
analysis: a model that allows us
exactly to determine how much volu
me we are selling in a specific distri
bution channel, the market share for
each channel and the growth poten
tial of the channels. We can then ask
ourselves questions such as: are we
focusing enough attention on that
special channel and are we using the
right packaging portfolio?"
The new model is therefore based
on a market approach in which the
market is subdivided into specific
distribution channels. Traditional
supermarkets call for a market
approach that differs from the one
used for convenience stores. In Hong
Kong, for example, we can differen
tiate between karaoke clubs and
Chinese restaurants, requiring diffe
rent packaging types, pricing and
promotion. The Sources of Growth
