A new global city
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
"It is a balancing act, no doubt about it," says Francoise Mahot, General
Manager at Sirocco, Heineken's joint-venture sales and marketing office in
Dubai. "This city is a melting pot of cultures, and there are cultural
differences that need to be recognised and accepted. One of the reasons
Sirocco was formed was to create a new focus on the beer category and
provide premium beer brands with the regional scope, capability and
marketing know-how that will build the category."
Heineken has been sold in the Gulf since the early 1960s, but Sirocco
has been marketing beer brands—among them Heineken, Amstel, Tiger and
Almaza—in Dubai for only 15 months. With around 50 employees, the
company has been developing strategies to market Heineken so as to gain a
leading position in bars, hotels and other hospitality outlets in the city,
while staying absolutely within the local alcohol marketing restrictions. This
is a challenging task.
Stimulating the local economy by attracting business and tourists
requires sensitivity, says Mahot. "We're marketing alcohol in the Middle
East, and we have to do that with respect. We cannot put up big Heineken
billboards everywhere, and we need to be sensitive to cultural differences."
The key to marketing beers in a city like Dubai is innovation, Mahot
suggests. "Everything here is the biggest, the best or the first. That's what
we have to be, as well, in order to compete, because we aren't allowed to
broadcast beer commercials on television, or run print advertisements in
newspapers, or put up posters or billboards in public. So, we have to be
creative when it comes to marketing beer. This means creating above-the-
line consumer impact for beer brands in below-the-line environments."
Sirocco has already developed a number of innovative ways to promote
and market the Heineken portfolio of brands. For example, the Tiger Beer
16 Feet Under kickboxing event, attracted positive exposure for Tiger beer
across various Dubai media, including TV. The Heineken Music Thirst activity
has helped build stronger brand equity over the last two years. And
recently, Heineken was the sole beer provider for a Robbie Williams concert
at the sold-out Nad Al Sheba venue (with 25,000 fans). The launch of the
aluminium Paco bottle at the Dubai International Rugby Sevens event in
2005 also achieved significant exposure and market penetration for
Heineken. And in August of last year, Sirocco rolled out Heineken's range of
Sub Zero fridges in many Dubai hotel and bar outlets: state-of-the-art
coolers that chill beer to a temperature of -2° C.
Las Vegas of the Middle East or Manhattan in the desertthe biggest, the
first or the bestwhichever superlative you choose to describe this
bustling metropolis in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, note that the success
and potential for massive growth in Dubai is no mirage. The late Sheikh
Rashid's vision has resulted in a growing tourist trade and rising levels of
international business interest in the city.
"This city will flourish as a hub for international business in the region,"
concludes Walsh. "It will continue to attract top companies and
businessmen because of its infrastructure, ease of doing business and
lifestyle. The economy is diversifying successfully, and we expect a soft
landing for the oil-driven boom in the Gulf. For the hospitality sector, we are
seeing development and maturity. And we are also seeing new formats,
such as budget hotels, being introduced, creating greater breadth and
depth to Dubai's offering."
