HEINEKEN'S EXTRA COLD BEER -
BEER'S HOT NEW FUTURE
Summer 2006
"By donkey?" I ask incredulously.
"Yes, by donkey. There are no cars on that island; there's no other way,
so we use a donkey. I don't know if it's a union donkey, but I'm sure it's
treated well," he jokes. "Would you like to go to that island, it takes a week
round trip?"
Oliemans also relates how the brewery faces a huge challenge when it
comes to returnable bottles. "Our biggest pack type is the half-litre
returnable bottle. The process is that the bottle goes to the market, the
beer is consumed with the expectation that the bottle will be given back to
the wholesaler, and then gets returned into the system. Because of the high
seasonality, we have a huge number of crates and bottles in the market
during this time. Our major complexity is sorting th ereturned bottles and
crates. It's a huge issue, and one that costs millions of euros a year in lost
bottles."
I cautiously ask why people don't return bottles here in Greece, to
which Oliemans sighs.
"Things are very different on the islands. That's much more of a tourist
market for us," says Alexandras Daniilidis, Sales Manager Wholesale-Horeca
for Athenian Brewery S.A. "Foreign guests prefer drinking draught beer,
that's one difference and that affects returns as well. Don't forget, this is a
very opportunistic market, the whole thing is played in two months. You
have to be sure everything is well prepared for these months—stock is
right, not too little but not too much, the supply chain has to work. We're
talking 53 islands, don't forget. If something goes wrong you don't have
time to correct. It's like the Olympics every year," he says with a smile that
has seen more than a few moments of ecstasy and agony when it comes to
providing his customers with their needs.
Minas Mavrikakis, Marketing Manager at Athenian Brewery S.A., also
shares his view. "Alright, that's all true, but you make things happen," he
says. "You leverage activities and promotions that set the pace. We do a lot
here, and as you'll see at the beaches, we have fantastic sponsorships going
on. That's one of the reasons we've raised the per capita litre consumption
Having fun in the summer sun can be thirsty
work. After taking in some rays, playing
volleyball or eyeing the beautiful people
passing by, what you need is something truly
refreshing—a tasty beer, served not just cold,
but super-cold, in a bottle that's so cold it emits
frozen smoke when it comes out of the freezer.
Welcome to the arctic cold world of Heineken
Extra Cold, an offer that promises to bring just
such refreshment, in both bottle and draught,
when you most want it; on the hottest of days,
when you've worked up a thirst.
Incorporating an innovative range of beer
fridges, called Sub Zero coolers (on- and off-
premise), and on-premise draught beer columns
(Extra Cold Draught) with glass freezers for
frozen glasses, this activation program is
designed to capture the growing market for
ultra cold beer. The Sub Zero coolers cool beer
to a chilly -2° Celsius (just above the freezing
point of beer), while Extra Cold Draught
incorporates branded draught columns and
beer glasses, both of which are coated with a
thin layer of ice.
Heineken Extra Cold is built on the Global Key
Consumer Insight research that there are
different occasions where people seek a
refreshment that cools them down, refreshes
them and at the same time keeps them going.
This can be at hot occasions like the beach, but
also in a nightclub, after work or the start of an
evening.
Heineken has been working hard on its
Extra Cold Beer program for the past two years.
"The Glacial program from the Spanish OpCo,
Heineken Espaha, taught us that consumers
there prefer a 'truly cold' beer which is really
refreshing. After some years of technical
development, they started an intensive and
focussed program in 2002 to serve Cruzcampo
beer at 0 degrees in the South of Spain. And
that taught us a simple lesson: very cold beer
led to increased volumes," says Brand
Activation Manager Ernst Jan van der Wal.
Heineken, as a brand leader in the increasingly
competitive and segmented world of beer, is
always on the lookout for the latest movements
in the market, and the success of very cold beer
pointed to a clear consumer desire.
"We started by looking at the possibilities
for our markets in Europe, the Middle East and
the Caribbean," van der Wal says, indicating
that market tests showed that bottles served
below zero in the Caribbean and Middle East
and Extra Cold Draught in the Netherlands
proved that extra cold drives incremental
volume. At the same the time the program
strengthens the brand value Passion for Quality
and underpins the brand's innovation
leadership.
"Presently we're introducing Heineken Extra
Cold Beer in many countries. We're launching
Heineken Extra Cold Draught in Spain, France,
Italy, and the Netherlands, among other
countries, and Heineken Extra Cold bottled beer
from Sub-Zero coolers over 30 markets in Asia,
Middle East, across Europe and the Caribbean."
"Extra Cold Beer will invigorate the
Heineken brand enormously," concludes van der
Wal, "appealing to a wide variety of people, and
it's got a young and cool feel. Heineken Extra
Cold Beer will be one of Heineken's key brand
activation programmes over the next few
