Heineken1 has
become one of the
world's true
iconic brands.
it
the international premium segment (IPS) in
Western Europe, increasing its market share
from 20.2% to 20.7% between 2009 and
2010. The brand continues to outperform
the rest of the HEINEKEN and IPS portfolios
in both volume and profit growth.
"This performance in a challenging economic
environment highlights the appeal of our
premium brand. Standardising the way we
present Heineken® around the world, through
new glassware, the K2 bottle and marketing,
guarantees the quality experience
consumers expect," explains Didier.
"The brand's award-winning 'Open Your
World' positioning, which was launched at
the end of 2010 and is currently being rolled
out to European markets, is clearly engaging
consumers and getting them talking about
the brand with their friends. Heineken® is
already one of the world's true iconic brands,
and customers will soon see the impact in
their sales, as consumers start to demand
Heineken®, without customers having to
compete on price."
HEINEKEN is also working hard to ensure
beer appeals to the new generation of legal-
age beer drinkers, through the addition of
new global brands and with digital media
playing a significant role in Heineken® brand
communication. 'The Entrance', the first
episode in the 'Open Your World' campaign,
was initially only launched digitally, and
caused a sensation among influential
bloggers and in the viral video charts.
The redesigned Heineken® website and an
increasing use of social media have also
helped target new consumers. Heineken®
now has more than 2.5 million loyal
Facebook fans."
Focus on Consumers and Portfolios
In order to support its operating companies
in delivering top-line growth, HEINEKEN has
successfully completed extensive portfolio
reviews using a more standardised approach.
This 'Building Winning Portfolio' process
provides a clear competitive advantage.
HEINEKEN completed portfolio reviews in
Italy, Switzerland, Spain and France, and
carried out consumer segmentation projects
to enhance the positioning for its key
brands in the Netherlands.
Such reviews identify untapped potential.
"For example, in the UK, we're currently
launching Foster's Gold, a premium
version of the popular Foster's Lager. This
was in response to the consumer need
for a more stylish bottled variant of the
brand, which is demanded in certain social
situations."
The knowledge developed in the area
of portfolio management is being
used as an integral part of a marketing
training programme which is currently
under development. This will allow
thjs competence to be transferred to
operating companies across the world.
Innovation
In addition to brand innovations,
HEINEKEN has also had a number of
firsts in Europe this year with product
innovation, a key area of focus for
HEINEKEN. "Profitable, consumer-focused
innovation continues to be an essential
part of driving consumer preference and
ultimately volume and value growth,"
explains Didier. "Our objective is to
increase our innovation rate from 3%
today, to 6% by 2020, and this year
we've witnessed impressive inroads
to achieving this. Leveraging recent
innovations such as Heineken® Extra
Cold®, the Orion draught system,
DraughtKeg®, BeerTender® and David®
Green will help our consumers to
increase their sales volumes.
With limited scope to raise prices due
to challenging market conditions,
HEINEKEN's Total Cost Management
programme has been key to maintaining
profitability in many markets. "It started
out as a programme to free up cash and
reduce costs in 2006, but these priorities
have now become an integral part of our
organisational culture," says Didier. "This
can be clearly seen by the results in all
of our markets. Total Cost Management
helps keep our cost base extremely
competitive moving forward."
30 World of HEINEKEN Autumn 2011
