:
GLOBAL BRANDING AND ADVERTISING
2009
(CASE STUDY ANALYSIS)
International Marketing
SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Ram Mohan Pisharodi
SUBMITTED BY:
TEAM NO- 1
Section-B (Marketing)
Company Profile
Heineken is one of the world‟s great brewers and is committed to remaining strong and
independent. The brand that bears the founder‟s name – Heineken – is available in almost every
country on the planet and is the world‟s most valuable international premium beer brand.
Heineken brews great beers and builds great brands. In addition to the Heineken brand, we have
more than 170 international, regional, local and specialty beers around the globe. Our famous
brands include Amstel®, Europe‟s third-largest selling beer, Cruzcampo®, Tiger®, Zywiec®,
Birra Moretti®, Ochota®, Murphy‟s® and Star®.
At Heineken we aim to be a leading brewer in each of the markets in which we operate and to
have the world‟s best brand portfolio.
We have the widest presence of all international brewers, thanks to our global network of
distributors and 115 breweries in more than 65 countries. Our brands are well established in
profitable, mature markets, while the popularity of our beers is growing daily in emerging beer
markets such as Russia, China and Latin America.
We are the largest brewer and distributor in Europe. Our global coverage is achieved through a
combination of wholly-owned companies, licence agreements, affiliates and strategic
partnerships and alliances. Often, our wholesalers also distribute wine, spirits and soft drinks.
Our international export operations ship beer to large and profitable markets worldwide.
We are committed to growth and have embraced innovation as a key component of our strategy
in the areas of production, marketing, communication and packaging. In all of these areas, it is
the consumers and their changing needs that is at the heart of our efforts.
We also fully acknowledge the role that we have to play in society. Social responsibility and
sustainability underpin everything we do. We will continue expanding initiatives to combat
alcohol abuse and misuse and work hard to reach the highest environmental standards in the
industry.
Global Operations
Heineken beer is available in more than 170 countries. The company's product portfolio consists
of over 80 brands although Heineken USA only imports Heineken Lager, Heineken Special
Dark, Amstel Light and Buckler into the U.S. With more than 110 breweries in over 50 countries
and export activities all over the world, Heineken is the most international brewery group in the
world. In 1999 the total beer volume of the Heineken Group amounted to 90.9 million
hectoliters, ensuring the Group's second place in the world rankings. All Heineken products
imported into the U.S. are brewed in Holland. According to our 2001 annual report, we sold 22.4
million hectoliters of Heineken and 10.8 million hectoliters of Amstel in that year.
Employees
In 2007, the average number of employees employed was 54,004
170 brands
Heineken‟s leading brand portfolio includes more than 170 international premium, regional,
local and specialty beers. Our principal brands are Heineken® and Amstel®. We continually
seek to reinforce our brands through innovations in production, marketing and packaging.
139.2 million hl
The Heineken brand is available in almost every country on the planet. We own more than 119
breweries in more than 65 countries brewing a Group beer volume of 139.2 million hectoliters.
Strengths:
The taste of Heineken beer is unique. The yeast that is used to make Heineken beer till
today was developed in 1886. So the taste and uniqueness of it has been there for a
hundred years.
Heineken is the world‟s second largest beer manufacturer. They produce 5.6 billion ltrs
of beer each year. Second only to Anheuser-Busch who produce 10 billion ltrs. This gives
them economies of scale and a platform for further expansion of their market
capitalization.
They have substantial market share in Europe and America with 38% where as they are
growing very fast (rate of growth 23% over 1992 sales) in Asia and Australia.
In some markets like USA and Hong Kong the Heineken brand is perceived as a
premium brand and has successfully established a brand image.
They have wholly owned subsidiaries in Netherlands, France and Ireland whereas they
held majority stake in 15 other breweries all over the world. This gave them a global
presence.
Across all markets the brand was acknowledged as a lighter beer or superior quality
presented in attractive packaging
The company has through mergers and acquisitions obtained distribution line efficiencies
which in would add to the market reach of the Heineken and would give it a much deeper
penetration to the untouched markets.
Weaknesses:
The local Heineken brand managers had the resources to develop own commercials
which were not always aligned to the Heineken brand image that the managers at
headquarters wanted to project.
In some countries the brand image of Heineken was too narrow such that the brand was
seen appropriate for special occasions only. While in other countries like Latin America
the brand was viewed as just another imported European beer. In Netherlands it was
viewed as a mainstream brand.
This difference in brand image across global markets is hurting Heineken. Heineken is
losing market share in Europe (drop in sales 1.6% compared to 1992 ratings). In Africa
also the brand was losing market share @ 1.5%. Is Heineken a global brand? Heineken is
a global brand in the.
The company has limited its reach to the European and the Western countries and there
still lies a scope for scaling up in countries like India where the beer is just imported and
thus making it impossible to penetrate deep down.
Yes, surely Heineken is a global brand having its presence in and around 170 countries and this
means that the brand has possibly gone much beyond to be recognized as a global brand.
Q2. Evaluate the research. What has been learned? What did you learn?
What could have been done better?
The research projects namely Project Comet and Project Mosa were commissioned to clarify
Heineken‟s brand identity and t he implications for television advertising.
The findings from the research carried out are as follows. Project Comet identifies taste,
premium brand image, tradition, winning spirit, and friendship as the brand‟s core brand values.
The team detailed how each of the core brand values should be portrayed in Heineken brand
commercials. Project Mosa confirms that „taste appeals to the head‟ and „expressions of
friendship appeal to the heart‟ and identified how the expressions of taste and friendship could be
used by the Heineken brand in advertising. Friendship expressions will be portrayed through
True friends and the Taste expressions through the Quality of the product.
Consumer tastes for beer vary across the globe in markets that have strong brand preferences and
are in diverse stages of development. Heineken must maintain a consistent branding strategy
with central control from headquarters and build brand equity by utilizing market research to
design advertising specific to local markets.
Advertising should not be limited to traditional media markets, but should include sponsorship of
various public events including sporting events and concerts. Heineken must inspire international
confidence while maintaining local appeal. Heineken should keep packaging and branding
consistent while varying advertising. This consistent reminder of the Heineken brand will remind
consumers of Heineken‟s universal appeal, while acting as the official stamp of a quality beer.
The learning for the research are that the company must not only focus on the developed markets
or the markets that are into saturation level and it should focus on the markets that are in the
embryonic stage and also on the developing markets and one of them being India, Heineken still
has not penetrated India and the beer that is available is through imports. It has also been found
out that the company does not have a fixed group that looks into the Marketing Communication
Mix and that is the major reason that the company is suffering, not in terms of revenue but in
terms of market capitalization.
The things that could have been one better would surely be that the company must look into their
global Integrated Marketing Communication Mix which would help Heineken develop into a
global brand which would have a hegemonic dominance over the competing brands. They should
go into like “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” that signifies that the communication mix
should be different from country to country, and it should be significantly referring to the
personalization of the masses representing the target population of a particular country. It should
keep learning from what had happened to other brands that entered into foreign markets and did
not do well and they should learn from their failures.
Instead of giving the authority to the regional managers for developing of the advertisements, the
Heineken Management could have outsourced the Marketing Communication Mix to some of the
leading Advertising Agencies like O&M, Framfab etc.
The Heineken brand can be developed through the distinctive characteristics of the marketing
communication mix:
• creating strong associations and responses in the consumer‟s mind: creating awareness of
the brand, establishing the brand image, implanting „top of the mind‟ brand judgments
and feelings , and creating strong consumer-brand connect
The message should be implanted in the minds of the consumer to create brand equity by
establishing the brand as a value-creator in the memory of the market and creating for itself a
brand image. This can be accomplished in the following manner:
2. Extensive use of print and TV ads featuring, humour, family values, friendship,
trust, romance, happiness, aspirational lifestyles and testimonial by celebrities. This
would create a deeper penetration for the Heineken brand in the minds of the consumers
and also increase the share of mind and share of heart for the brand thus adding onto the
brand equity.
The Headquarters should presumably perform the following significant functions in order to
market the brand worldwide:
Define and establish a strategic roadmap for Brand Experiences. Implement a plan for
short term and long-term improvements.
Lead the negotiation of major new sponsorships, new brand experience platforms and
partnership agreements
Manage the integration of media buys into overall Brand Experience Strategy.
Collaborate with Brand teams to negotiate relevant Added-Value resources (print) to
support Brand Experience strategy
Responsible for Brand Experience Implementation and ensuring (International) best
practices are being adhered to
Identify and manage Brand Experience agency resources against the development of
agreed to activities.