HEINEKEN ADHERES TO ADVERTISING RULES
"BEER LIVING LAB"
media
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
Advertising and marketing is an important part of
Heineken's business. A lot of effort is put into
developing innovative and creative ways to
promote and advertise the company's brands. In
line with our strict policy of compliance with all
local laws and regulations in the countries in
which we operate, Heineken is committed to
responsible marketing and advertising, adhering
to the many different rules and regulations
pertaining to the advertising and promotion of all
our brands around the globe.
Next to the local alcohol related law and legal
restrictions, Heineken has developed a set of
rules that all our marketing organisations have to
comply with. This 'self regulation' ensures that
our message is consistent and responsible all
over the globe. Even if local legislation is more
liberal, we feel that Heineken has a world wide
responsibility. The rules are communicated
through a manual that is distributed to the
marketing departments. Our goal is to make our
brands even stronger by developing original,
effective and inspiring commercial
communications, while ensuring that our
company meets the highest standards of ethics
and corporate responsibility.
In some countries there is no law forbidding
brewers to communicate that alcohol improves
your performance or to link (sexual) success to
drinking alcohol. The Heineken rules will not
allow this type of message around our brand. In
most countries, the age of the persons depicted
in the commercials should officially be 18,
whereas Heineken has set the rule that the
people acting in Heineken commercials are at
least 25 years and look and act their age.
Through self regulation we hope to help
governments tackling problems related to
alcohol misuse. In this wèy, we hope that national
legislators will not impose new, non-targeted
laws to restrict the sales and communication of
our brands. There are around 20 'dark
markets'world wide, where it is very difficult or
simply impossible to communicate any
commercial message around alcohol.
"We as a brewer have pledged to adhere to
all laws pertaining to responsible marketing of
advertising of all our brands worldwide," says
Aart van Gestel, Manager Alcohol Society at
Heineken Corporate Affairs. "Heineken realises
that when we work according to our own self
regulatory rules we get positive response from
governments and international organisations
such as the WHO. Perhaps in this way we create
a more positive atmosphere around our brands
and underline the credibility of Heineken as a
responsible brewer."
Heineken has teamed up with IBM, Dutch Tax Authorities and the Free
University of Amsterdam to develop and launch an innovative satellite
project called the "Beer Living Lab", as part of a global project called
ITAIDE, which is sponsored by the European Commission. This pilot tracks
shipments of beer from the Netherlands to distribution centres in the UK
and the USA.
In cooperation with Safmarine and the customs services of the
Netherlands, the UK and the US, the "Beer Living Lab" uses satellite and
cellular technology to allow paperless documentation of shipments
across the Atlantic. At the moment, every single container which crosses
the border between the Netherlands and the USA requires around 30
different official documents, adding up to roughly five billion documents
per year. Heineken hopes the "Beer Living Lab" will help reduce the
number of documents generated through international shipping, saving
both time and money.
To trial the project, containers of Heineken beer were fitted with
wireless devices (TRECs) and tracked by all authorised stakeholders using
a global positioning systems. The data was transmitted to an IBM-hosted
centre and stored in three locations (France, India and USA) in databases
for Heineken, Dutch Tax Authorities and shipping companies. Data was
made available through a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using open
standards.
"The SOA achieved its main objective, which was to integrate
shipment data from Heineken, Customs and the shipping company using
a unique identifier," says Rob Wessels of Heineken Nederland Supply.
"The use of the intelligent device at the container door has been useful
to determine container integrity, gather sensory data and be aware of
container location to provide evidence for customs that the goods have
left the country. This architecture as well as the device might be useful in
future for all kinds of applications."
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