On May 11, 2002 Peter Bondra wrote Slovak history.
This small Central European nation, which had been
relegated to the lowest divisions of international
ice hockey less than a decade before, finally had a
chance to take its rightful place at the highest level
of international ice hockey. The exhilarating final of
the World Championships in Gothenburg against ice
hockey superpower Russia was tied 3 - 3, with a mere
two minutes left on the clock.
RISE OF SLOVAKIA, RISE OF CORGON
As the match entered its final seconds, Bondra moved
into strike mode, while a team-mate scooped up the
puck on the rebound. Bondra swiftly passed the final
defender and launched the puck past the Russian
goalie. The stadium shook. For the first time in its nine-
year history, Slovakia was world champion.
"These are the most replayed ten seconds in Slovak
television history," jokes Roman Krajniak, Corporate
Relations Manager for Heineken Slovakia. "They're
a defining moment for the nation. They proved that
a small country like ours could be number one at
something. At anything."
In the nine long years before 2002, Slovakia had fought
a long, uphill battle to break free of the lowest levels of
international ice hockey. And the story parallels that of
Corgon beer. Corgon was a small regional brand when
Heineken acquired it in 1997, but Heineken wanted
to reposition it as a mainstream national brand. This
looked like a daunting task - until Heineken Slovakia
entered into a sponsorship deal with the national ice
hockey team in 1999.
The partnership rapidly bore fruit. "We got lucky
pretty soon," says Roman. A mere year later at the
2,000 World Championship, the Slovak team had its
first major success when they met their neighbours
(and archrivals) from the Czech Republic in the final.
Unfortunately for the Slovaks, the Czechs won by a
healthy two-point margin. Still, a silver medal at the
World Championship was then considered a great
achievement, and Slovakia celebrated.
"Nobody had expected the Slovak team to become
so successful so quickly," says Roman. The team was
flown back in to the Slovak capital of Bratislava after
the final match, where thousands awaited them on the
city's main square. The Corgon flowed generously on
that occasion: it represented a definitive take-off for
sales, which continued to soar in the following years.
This year, as the championship year came to an end,
Corgon's market share had reached 13 per cent.
After a disappointing performance at the 2002 Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City, nobody expected the team
to do well on its next outings. But then came a stellar
performance at the World Championships later that
year. "Victory came as a surprise," Roman says. The
resulting boost in Corgon sales pushed the brand to
the top of its league as well. In 2003 it became the best
selling beer brand in Slovakia. "It's a champion in its
own right now," comments Roman.
KARJALA: BEER OF BUDDIES
Heineken is involved in ice hockey in markets all over
the world, where beer and spectator sports go well
together. The sport, which originated on Canadian
university campuses in the late 19th century, has a
reputation for being hard and fast. It is a natural fit
with the brand image of local beer brands striving for
national recognition.
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