we changed at
the speed of light...
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
years, says that the changes within that period have been 'huge*.
"We changed at the speed of light, but at the same time kept our
focus on the core brands Heineken and Amstel Light." A new
element in the market approach was the focus on the off premise.
And that choice has borne fruit. "There are 455,000 retail outlets
in the USA, of which around 255,000 are in the on premise. We sell
almost a quarter of our total volume via the on premise. The rest
is sold via the 200,000 off premise outlets."
To ensure the best possible commercial approach for the off
premise sector, more detailed segmentation was needed.
Heineken USA has subdivided the market into supermarkets,
liquor stores and the convenience petroleum segment and has
changed its sales force accordingly. That called for major invest
ments in the organisation in terms of both quality and quantity.
"We have initiated extensive training programs. We also recognised
the crucial importance of providing our sales force with the right
information at the right moment."
This professionalisation of the company's own organisation has
definitely had a positive impact on how Heineken USA works
together with its distributors. "The cooperation has become much
more about actual content and is much less tightly governed by
relationships. We are adding value to the distributors", says
Dadzis, who has concrete evidence to back his assertion.
"Heineken scores in the top one hundred wholesalers as number
