Event
OCTOBER 2 O O 1
Olympic Store. Another plan is that the Greek section of the
Heineken website will be supplemented with information about
the 2004 Olympics. For more than half a year the packaging of
Heineken beer in Greece has advertised the fact that Athenian
Brewery - in combination with Heineken - is acting as Grand Sponsor
of the Olympic Games. All Heineken packs carry the Athens 2004
logo and state that the brewery is Grand Sponsor. The intention is
that the three breweries in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras will
also profile themselves as part of Athens 2004.
The brewery has other, large-scale plans, though these are still in
an early stage of development. Mr Tanes is therefore somewhat
cautious about revealing these as yet. "We want to have a big
annual event featuring a world famous artist. Our goal is for the
public to view Heineken as the only company that could bring
them these activities with such quality and on such a large scale."
The General Manager of Athenian Brewery feels that the
sponsorship will not only bring short-term gains. The overall image
of the sponsorship will yield positive short-term benefits for the
Heineken brand in particular, but the contract will also generate
other, longer-term spin-off benefits. "There are non-commercial
benefits from this sponsorship. Our employees' sense of pride,
their feeling of belonging to a great organisation will be massively
enhanced. The same is true for our trade partners. Also, opinion
leaders in Greece already view us as a good corporate citizen. This
sponsorship will strengthen that view," emphasises Mr Tanes.
The Grand Sponsorship of the 2004 Olympics is in Mr Tanes* view
an excellent launch pad for even more Heineken activities that can
link up with the world's most prestigious sports event. "The 2004
Olympic sponsorship should be viewed as the beginning of a long-
term relationship between Heineken and the Olympic Movement.
We therefore manage all activities in Greece, working in close
cooperation with Corporate Marketing in Amsterdam. We have the
enthusiasm, the strength and the spirit. With the co-operation of
the Heineken family we will contribute to a successful event."
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