Heineken N.V.

Global Branding and Advertising

Group B-05:
10P187 Anant Garg 10P200 Harpreet Singh 10P218 Pinak Mukherjee 10P223 Rahul Reddy 10P225 Rakinderjit Singh 24NMP14 Jagadeeswara Reddy S

Brand Heineken
Brand Heineken: Proud of it s heritage Proud Heritage Successful Innovation Quote-unquote: The Heineken company without its brands is not a company. It only produces (premium) brands from conviction and consciously operates a multi-brand strategy Mr. Leo van Sister, leading Strategic Brand & Marketing Consultant Case Facts:  Project Comet: Defined 5 components of Heineken's global brand identity and explored how they should be expressed in Heineken's brand communication  Project Mosa: Identified the expressions of taste and friendship that had the most appeal and explored how they should be expressed in Heineken's TV advertising worldwide  Issues: Heineken s brand image not consistently projected in the brand s communications around the world Build Heineken as a truly Global brand The Company while undertaking licensing agreements could specify how the Heineken brand should be marketed, but it could not influence how a licensee marketed its own brands. Some licensees did not maintain sufficient price premium for the Heineken brand over their own national brands In Europe, overcapacity and minimal population growth resulted in price competition, margin pressures and efforts to segment further

Ques 1. Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths
 Good Taste: It s unique golden color, sparkling texture and refreshing coolness emphasize it s taste  Light beer of superior quality presented in attractive Packaging  Premiumness: In countries other than Netherlands marketed as a premium brand; considered mainstream brand in Netherland (Marker leader in Netherlands)  Heritage: Brewed since 1868, led by generations of the brewer family Alfred Heineken, who considered a bad bottle as a personal insult  Huge volumes: Second largest in terms of sales of beer brewed around the world, 5.6 billion litres after AnheuserBusch  International Presence: Present in multiple geographies Europe, USA, Africa, Asia etc. Imported where not bottled also had licensee agreements in many countries  Most heavily advertised premium beer in Europe and worldwide mostly through TV commercials (90% spends)

Weaknesses
 Non standardized brand communication across the world: thus, Image of the brand was different in different countries  Narrowly drawn image in many countries: seen as appropriate only for special occasions  Some licensees did not maintain the price premium of the brand as compared to their domestic brands  No production base: Imported into Germany and US, both of which had sizeable beer drinking population

Ques 1. Is Heineken a global brand?

Global Brand
 A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world. Global brands transcend their origins and create strong enduring relationships with consumers across countries and cultures.  Examples include Facebook, Apple, Pepsi, McDonald's, Mastercard, Sony and Nike  The challenge for an international brand is to inspire but at the same time remain personally relevant

Our Take: Heineken at that time was not a global brand as:
 Brand values communicated were not consistent across the world  Brand was perceived differently by people in different countries Premium Vs mainstream beer brand Occasion based Vs everyday use beer brand o In Netherlands, it is viewed as a mainstream brand, and a market leader o In USA & Hong Kong it is perceived to be a beer that is used for special occasion rather than for daily consumption o In Latin America it is viewed as just one among many European imported beers Thus, though the company has a global presence, its image and identity perception is varied across the world. The main issue surrounding the company is to establish a strong global brand which is standardized across all the countries in the world

Ques 2. Learnings
Exhibit 3
Ireland and UK rank amongst the highest in beer consumption yet market share position is weak in UK The highest percentage of people naming Heineken as their first choice is highest in Greece and lowest in Italy and Spain with UK as the third lowest Market share position is weakest in Spain and UK so Heineken needs to build and infiltrate the market Heineken needs to increase its SOV in UK and Spain Greece is its best market

Taste Focus
 Indicators of beer taste vary with country  Important indicators of beer taste Scale of plant, taste experience, balanced taste, foam, drinkability, advertising and packaging  Heineken s suitability: Advertising boards depicting quality, tradition were found to be more suitable Availability and brewing skills were considered unimportant Brand vision in advertising boards was negatively received

Ques 2. Learnings
Friendship Focus
Substantial agreement across different national markets for standard vs. premium beer

Standard
Nuclear family / Large groups Thirst quenching Daytime Beach Social participation Thirst quencher

Premium
Intimate friends / Smaller groups Savoring Night-time Intimate moments & places Ego enhancement/ Self esteem A treat

 Visual boards and messages depicting Always count on Heineken and True friends were found to be more suitable  Visual boards and messages depicting Trust , Sports were considered unimportant  Visual boards and messages depicting Respect were not found suitable  For Netherlands Rugby , True Friends and Always count on Heineken were the expressions when they were asked to convey the core value of friendship  For Germany only true friends and Always count on Heineken were the expressions.  For Italy cat and dog , Rugby , and Always count on Heineken were the expressions of friendship  For USA like Germany only true friends and Always count on Heineken were reasons to believe

Ques 3. Brand Development: Heineken

Objective
Consistent brand communication across all geographies by depicting standardized brand values Desired positioning: the world's leading premium beer  Despite differing strategies across markets, a unifying marketing communications theme is necessary  A global branding strategy will lower marketing costs, realize economies of scale in production and clarify the brand s positioning in the minds of customers The challenge for an international brand is to inspire but at the same time remain personally relevant. Thus, the head office should communicate fundamental brand values. But, it's also important to remember and acknowledge local differences. The primary purpose would be to build Heineken s desired brand image of Good Taste built upon the 5 core values of: 1. Taste Human Truth 2. Premiumness Product Truth 3. Tradition When a group of Heineken beer 4. Winning spirit special friends meet offers a great taste 5. Friendship they want to have a which appeals to
good time the head

Heineken Beer appeals to the head and heart by way of it s great taste and association with friendship

Communication Idea

Ques 3. Brand Development: Heineken

Region
Africa

Stage of Dev Embryonic Embryonic Take off

Market evolution
High local brand High local brand loyalty; Local loyalty; Local fragmented brewers fragmented brewers Development of std Development of std beer; Shifts in consume beer; Shifts in consume taste taste Quality improvements; introducing premium beer High volume focus; High volume focus; Price competition Price competition Consumer Consumer sophistication; market sophistication; market segmentation segmentation Brand/segment Brand/segment proliferation; Product proliferation; Product differentiation differentiation

Recommendation
High reach & frequency of advertising to familiarize and create brand awareness Focus on the high quality of beer and higher share of voice to create trials and awareness Introduce premium quality in addition to focus on taste and quality. Higher reach through distribution High Frequency of advertising and use of distribution channels to gain higher market share

Eastern Europe South East Asia, South America, Greece Italy, Spain, and Japan N&C Europe and Australia USA

Take off

Growing
Take off - Growing

1.Mature
Growing

2. Declining Mature

Declining

Focus on premiumness of the product and Experience that the Brand provides. The brand should be shown as the choice of sophisticated users with friends

Ques 3. Brand Development: Heineken

 Advertising communication brief: Brand Drivers 1.Never play Safe 2.Be Innovative 3.Be Consistent 4.Be in Reach | Performance area 1.Cutting edge advertisement 2.Unique Brand experience 3.Same brand value across the spectrum 4.Full multichannel access

Brand Symbols Heineken name Green colour and Red star

Ques 4. Role of Headquarters

Need for Head office:  Bring consistency and uniformity in brand identity across geographies  International image is related to prestige and status Benefits:  Able to manage brand strategy globally  Help to achieve market efficiencies and reduce advertising cost  Easy identification across geographies Role or tasks:  Set of core brand values or brand character  Positioning  Guidelines for brand communication  Brand personality and identity details Parameters of imagery: The Brand Manual A full brand description and what it stands for. The brand's description should run parallel with the values of the company, A list of situations that the brand and its symbols can be used and cannot be used Tone and use of words relating to the brand, Specific colors, dimensions, lines, accents, inclusion of trademark, brand signature, image styles, Typographical elements Reproduction guidelines (for advertising agencies and printers)

Current Status
 The company was one of the first beers to be positioned as a premium lager, thereby creating smart positioning that turned out to be highly successful  It now has over 170 brands, the vast majority of which are local brands. The company strategy is simple and effective. The expansion is mainly the result of the strategy in which European takeovers of local breweries and their brands are a central principle  They are assessed for their local growth potential and, if found suitable, are left as they are. In many cases, Heineken is then introduced alongside the local brand as a premium brand, thereby creating a global premium positioning  In recent years, the company has become far more active in the broad arena of brand activation through communication and targeted sponsoring in music and sport. The Olympic Games, Champions League, rugby and music are areas where the company feels perfectly at home Other initiatives:  Project Beacon (Glocalization): Young adults are not a homogenous international target group. They're interested in international brands, but remain strongly attached to their personal cultures and origins  Thirst Platform: Heineken launched in the summer of 2002. This is an international dance-concept in which young, local up-and-coming DJs get the chance to play with famous international DJs. This world of entertainment fits very well into the Heineken brand, and it also addresses the needs of each local market

Thank You