available
on the
Russian market
for several
decades
Heineken
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
improve that over the next few years. Brand loyalty is still very
low at the moment. Beer is still an impulse purchase and we will
have to win consumers over to our brands and then ensure they
remain loyal." One of the ways in which this is being done is via
promotions in supermarkets and in on-premise outlets.
The phenomenon of sales promotions for beer was unknown in
St. Petersburg until Bravo International took the initiative. "We were
the first to do it. Very soon afterwards the competition followed
our lead," says Dimitri with a wry grin. He anticipates that sales
promotions will start to form an important element within
marketing activities in the years ahead.
The growth of the beer market in Russia (from 25 million hectolitres
in the mid-1990s to 63 million hectolitres in 2001) is not attribut
able solely to the declining interest in vodka. Another strong
contributory factor, feels Victor Pyatko, has been the economic
PAGE 26
growth over the past five years. "We see more stability now. I always
used to laugh when the prime minister announced his plans for
the coming year. Today I know that those plans are realistic."
Heineken Beer has been available on the Russian market for
several decades. In the era of the Soviet Union its distribution
was very much limited to the bars of the international hotels, but
over the past ten years sales of Heineken have grown steadily.
The economic crisis of 1998 brought a setback; the devaluation of
the rouble and the sharp climb in import duties put Heineken beyond
the reach of a large group of consumers. Despite that, Heineken was
able to maintain its market share in the super-premium segment.
First Federation is the importer of Heineken (and Amstel) for Russia.
Since 1996 the importer has received marketing support from the
