Case Analysis: Heineken N.V Global Branding Advertising

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion of the Case Study2

Decision Making3

Problem Statement3

Alternatives4

Alternative 1 - Ruggedness4

Alternative 2 - Made for the Youth4

Alternative 3 - Royal Treatment4

Alternative 4 - Association with Sports5

Analysis of Alternatives5

Project Comet and Mosa5

Ruggedness6

Made for the Youth6

Royal Treatment6

Association with Sports7

Action7

Implementation and Evaluation7

Generalization8

References9

Case Analysis: Heineken N.V Global Branding Advertising

Introduction

Heineken N.V. has been brewing beer in Amsterdam since 1863 and since then it has expanded from a local brand to a strong global brand. Its primary focus is the markets of the Netherlands, Europe, and America. It has expanded internationally by exporting its product as well as granting licenses to breweries to brew its original formula. In the international market, taste was not an issue as the same formula was used worldwide. The issue was with its marketing and pricing strategy. It found out that breweries in some country were not charging a premium for its brand name. This could have had adverse effects on its brand equity.

Around the world, price competition is quite high and markets in Europe and USA were saturated and segmented into flavored beer, low or non-alcohol beer, dry beer, and some more varieties. The consumption per capita varied from country to country. Another important aspect to consider was the drinking habits of people in the target market and their preferences.

Heineken N.V. has every quality a brewery needs in order to become a strong global brand. Throughout the globe, its image and brand is perceived differently. It is considered a market leader and mainstream brand in the Netherlands. In Hong Kong and USA, it is considered a beer that is consumed occasionally rather than daily, while in Latin America, the perception it has in the minds of a people is that of any other European brand but throughout the world, one perception that remained constant was that it is a superior quality light beer. This difference in perceptions means that the same marketing campaign would not be successful throughout the globe.

Under recent leadership, Heineken has re-entered Interbrand's Top 100 global brands at 91, the third ranked beer behind only Budweiser (29) and Corona (86). It stands alongside Coca-Cola (1), Pepsi (22), Jack Daniels (78) and Smirnoff (89) as a truly great global brand, and Alexis aims to have the brand as equally recognized as Apple, Google and Nike (Parker & Parker 2006).

Case Study

In order to improve its image and market share, Heineken N.V. is considered two projects namely, Comet and Mosa. Both projects were targeted at different situations. Project Comet aimed at positioning the brand as a premium brand and making the image of the brand consistent. It was built on five principles of taste, premiumness, tradition, winning spirit, and friendship. Project Mosa on the other hand was established to use the expressions of friendship and taste in its advertisements in order to build a strong brand association.

Globally, there has been a stagnation of beer consumption in developed countries. Consumption in emerging countries (China, Russia, Latin America), and especially the countries of Eastern Europe, traditionally ...