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HEINEKEN 'CONNECTS' WITH CONSUMERS
BEERTENDER WINS PRESTIGIOUS
RED DOT AWARD
As part of its goal to establish stronger
relationships with the consumer market,
Heineken has established The Connection
program. The Connection is an
inspirational, consumer-centric platform
available to all Heineken employees,
which strengthens ties with customers
and stimulates initiatives which will
generate benefits for the business.
The Connection conducted its premier workshop
in April this year, where 40 Heineken employees
went out and interviewed consumers in Dutch
bars, restaurants and cinema's. Respondents
were asked to share their ideas on four major
themes: cold beer, the elderly, PET- bottles and
the supermarket price war.
Using the valuable information gathered
from the first session, Heineken employees from
Connection^
various departments, together with consumers,
met again in June to share and exchange insights
and ideas in order to develop positive solutions
for the market.
Participating consumers were positive about
the workshop. Sjoerd (26) said "I really felt part
of the group and was challenged by everybody
to share my thoughts." Puck (62) adds "The
Heineken employees were really interested in
what I had to say."
Participating Heineken employees were also
enthusiastic: Edwin Cevaal said "The workshop
was organised very well and it gave a new
impulse to brainstorm together with consumers."
Edgar Netll thought the workshop was inspiring
and energetic.
"The internal Taking Heineken to the next
level program places significant emphasis on the
need for the whole organisation to become truly
consumer-focused," says Harry de Haas, Global
Manager Commercial Insights at Heineken. "This
means we must continually strive towards
translating consumer, customer and competitor
insights into relevant, integrated actions in the
market."
With its innovative and stylish design, the BeerTender has been awarded the
Red Dot, one of the most sought-after and prestigious design prizes in the
world. Out of more than 1800 entrants from 36 countries, an international
jury of designers, architects and artists selected the BeerTender as their top
choice for quality and innovative design.
The Red Dot label is awarded annually by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein
Westfalen in Germany. The internationally renowned competition represents
an important benchmark for innovation and design.
Following the festive award ceremony on July 4 at the Essen Aalto Theatre,
Prize winners were featured in the 'Design Innovations 2005 - Red Dot
Award' exhibition, between July 5 and August 7 in the Red Dot Museum, a
gallery which houses the largest permanent collection of contemporary
design world-wide.
The BeerTender was developed by Heineken and Krups, in close cooperation
with NPK industrial design. Following a successful pilot in Switzerland in
2003, BeerTender was launched in the Netherlands in March last year. Since
then, more than one million kegs have been sold, with an average rate of
90% consumer satisfaction.
