In 2003 Corgon became the best
selling beer brand in Slovakia.
A champion in its own right:
World of Heineken 39 - winter 2008/2009
Finnish Karjala beer is a good example of what beer
and ice hockey can mean to each other. The brand
had gone through a rough spot in the late 1980s and
early 90s, when it suffered from a negative image, with
Fins considering it to be the less cosmopolitan choice
among beers, and sales were declining accordingly.
By the early 1990s, market share had plummeted
from 27 per cent in 1988 to just five. "The only thing
keeping us afloat was our sponsorship of the national
team," says Harri. But when the Finnish won the world
championship in 1995 by defeating the Swedes 4 -1,
it gave the brand a much-needed boost. The moment
proved pivotal in the brand's history. From 1995
onward, the brand began to recover.
"One could even say that Karjala owes its existence
to ice hockey," says Karjala brand manager Harri
Rajakaltio. In 2003, the brand released a special ice
hockey edition, Karjala Championship Beer.
Karjala centred its new branding strategy around some
of the positive elements that define ice hockey: the
social and the masculine. "Adult male bonding became
the centrepiece of our public image," says Harri. "And
ice hockey was our method of putting that message
out there." As a part of the new strategy, Karjala
introduced its own international tournament. As a
result, ice hockey fans today see the name of the beer
brand as being synonymous with the annual joust held
in November between four ice hockey giants: Sweden,
Norway, Finland and Russia. The strategy has proved a
success. "We took the negative associations people had
with the brand and really turned them around," says
Harri.
NEXT STOP: SWITZERLAND
Ice hockey fans around the world, Harri included, are
eagerly anticipating the upcoming World Championship
in Switzerland, which will kick off in the spring next
year. While Heineken is not sponsoring the World
Championship, Switzerland is perhaps the place where
Heineken is involved in ice hockey the most. Through
its Calanda brand, Heineken sponsors three teams
in A and B leagues. Anticipating a rush of ice hockey
fans from around the world to his country, Patrik
Widman, Calanda's Brand Manager, is looking for ways
to increase Calanda's visibility. "Some of the matches
will be played on the ice rinks of clubs that Calanda
sponsors," says Patrik. "Still, we are looking into other
activities that will show that Calanda is the beer of
real fans." Calanda already has put out scratch cards
featuring a picture of a hockey puck to bars and cafés
around Switzerland.
ii
Of course, Calanda - like all Heineken brands - does
everything it can to encourage a responsible approach
to drinking alcohol. As one of the world's leading
brewers we take our responsibility to inform people
about responsible consumption very seriously and
increasingly, all our sponsorship activities worldwide
carry a responsible drinking message too.
While promoting the responsible consumption of
Calanda is a high priority for Patrik professionally, a
Swiss victory is of course at the top of his personal
wish list. The Swiss have one of the strongest club
competitions in the world, but they have never won a
gold medal at the World Championships. Meanwhile, the
Fins and the Slovaks also believe that their teams have
a chance of winning the grand prize. By April next year
we will know whose faith was justified.
Roman. Krajniak&Heineken. com
