Heineken Brand Audit - Essay Example

Heineken Company Analysis Heineken Company Analysis Brand elements Heineken has been enjoying positive taste of their products with their package design, availing a peculiar edition bottle, which manifests a night-ready uncovered design by light. Dutch beer brand went on to unveil major redesigned bottles; no hype, no Brad Prix and no disco trickery, this was a visual identity among the cans and bottles. The restyling and changing to a longer neck with five bottle sizes were distributed over the world except to US. Americans preferred the classic short-necked bottle. The long-necked is the world standard, other than America (Bergh & Behrer, 2010). The Global Heineken Manager Design & Concept once said that the new global long neck would reinforce the packaging, which applied the contemporary fancy can and embossed glasses. The Americans preferred short necks in order to differentiate the local beer from the imported one. The new bottle emphasizes on the visual identity on the cans and bottles. The visual identity was achieved by introducing sensory elements like embossments, indents that are strategically placed and tactile ink. The elements offer consumers aesthetic appealing and fun in the overall drinking experience. Specific packaging changes were done, with the brand elements including an elliptical curve originating from the Heineken’s logo. The refreshing green color is the Heineken’s trademark, which is enriched by the iconic star emblem that is red; the world has mostly recognized beer symbol. Heinekens commitment to improvement is evident from the new can design that was the first of its type to feature with tactile ink will be introduced all over the world. The latest glass has an embossed curve, which adds pleasant and better feeling when held. Product Heineken produces beer. In changing face of its beverage consumption, blurring its position among self-owned beverage labels and advertising restrictions. The company marketers decided to use the Heineken strong brand equity in expanding into neighboring markets and provided customers with other ways to interact with the company’s brand. Through a number of demonstrations, workshops and other activities, Cisco offered guidance and support on how Heineken could use technology to achieve this vision. The beer produced by Heineken is categorized into three groups; that is Heineken, Buckler and Subsidiary brands (Bergh & Behrer, 2010). Heineken Heineken lager beer is the primary product of the Heineken Group. It is over five percent pale lager, which was first manufactured in 1868. Forty brewers in thirty-nine countries around the globe make it. In 2006, over two billion liters of the beer was produced. Most Heineken beer is brewed in Zoeterwoude Brewery in Netherlands since 1975. Other beers produced with the name of Heineken are; Heineken Dark, Heineken Oud Bruin, Heineken Premium Light and Heineken Tarwebok (Gammelgaard & Dörrenbächer, 2013). Buckler This product is a low alcohol percentage pale lager. It was started in 1988 and distributed worldwide. It was recalled in 2004 after faultiness was found with the pasteurizing process. Buckler does no longer exist in Netherlands after its brand image declined after Cabaret performer mocking the brand in 1989 shows (Haig & Haig, 2011). Subsidiaries’ brands Europe Heineken Italy Heineken Italy was started in 1974 with the acquisition of the brewery of Dreher. In 1996, brewery of Moretti was established. Heineken Italian has six brewing plants, which produces over five hundred million liters of beer and employed over a thousand workers. Others included; Bralima Brewery, Brand Brewery, Caledonian Brewery, Central de Cervejas brewery, Cruzcampo, Brewery, De Ridder Brewery, Furstenberg Brewery, Karlovacko Brewery, Krusovice Brewery, Murphys Brewery, Pelforth Brewery, Skopje Brewery, Starobrno Brewery, Zagorka Brewery, Zlaty Bazant Brewery and Zywiec Brewery (Heineken & Russo, 2013). Africa There are three breweries in Africa. They include; Al-Ahram Brewery, Nigerian Breweries and Sedibeng Brewery Asia In Asia there three breweries; Almaza Brewery, Partnership with Fraser & Neave and Asia Pacific Breweries. Oceania Oceania has three breweries; DB Breweries, Tui Brewery and Monteiths. Pricing Different brands of Heineken have been undersigned different prices. The pricing is normally done after considerations of cost of production of each brand. Prices of different brand types are determined from the main deport. The prices may change once the product has been exported to others countries, this happens because of VAT charges existing in different nations governing rates. The prices are applicable to collection and delivery points of the Heineken brands. The type of the packaging material also influences the price of the a certain quantity of the same brand. Various capacities are rated differently with the lowest volume being the cheapest. Various types of the Heineken brands are priced differently (Mouncey & Wimmer, 2007). Distribution In a business, distribution is a crucial element. Heineken has strived to reduce its environmental impact from their transportation of their products and raw material. They have resulted to the Green Distribution Programme, which aims at reducing the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere. In 2012, Heineken launched various initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emission to the environment by a number of brewing companies (Sluyterman, Bouwens, McKay & Gelderen, 2014). E-learning module for distribution and logistics teams was to help companies understand how the green distribution can be realized in their day-to-day activities and contribute to their goals set. Carbon dioxide efficiency framework was to provide the distribution teams with a well-structured way to approach carbon dioxide reduction through effective kilometers driven, transport mode and fuel consumed. Green self-assessment and Handbook of best practices of Usage of Carbon Dioxide Reduction. By the use of both approaches, the logistics team was in a position to assess their potential of reducing carbon dioxide emission. In Dutch, the Zoeterwoude brewery replaced thirty-four trucks with the Euro-six engines. The embarked on the trucks with the Euro-five engine, which releases 80 % less of the nitrogen oxides and 50 % less soot. Philanthropy Heineken has been involved in the philanthropic activities over the years. This activity has helped the company in marketing itself through those social activities. Heineken has also sponsored different activities like European Champions League Football, which is widely viewed by many individuals in the world; this has helped the company to market and promotion of its brands. Heineken also over the years it sponsored other events like FIFA World Cup and FA Cup in England. The sponsorship activities have made the brand to be internally recognized. Heineken started offering AIDs education to its employees in Africa since 1989 (Smit, 2011). Before then there were many incidences when the manager had chosen to cater for medical treatment for the company employee out of his pocket. Heineken benefitted a lot from that charitable work, especially for the AIDs awareness given that beer is associated with unsafe sex; it was specifically useful for Heineken. Brand exploratory Heineken is the world’s recognized brewer. It was started in Netherlands but over the years, it has spread to almost every country in the world. Heineken company has had an elaborate experience in the marketing sector; it has managed to put more pressure on the other traditional lager. The company has been rolling out some brands and launch new ones in the local and abroad markets to boost its profits and growth. With many flavoured, specialty and craft beers together with low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beer alternatives, the brands has gained popularity around the globe. Those varieties offered a greater number of choices to the consumers. Heineken is ranked among the most widely recognized brands in the world. The name Heineken has been famous over the years, but it was until recent decades ago when it was not clearly differentiated due to other beer brands, which has been existing. The media, market and platforms have revitalized the brand and made Heineken a lifestyle and recognizable beer (Wang, 2008). Consumer knowledge When understanding anything from the environment, it is by relating it to the prior knowledge. Comprehending the content of the knowledge of the consumer is the crucial thing because marketers are always in a position of establishing new knowledge. The new knowledge may involve the development of the brand images and personalities. The Heinekens knowledge is organized into categories. Objects of one category are the same to the objects in the same category but different from the objects of another category (Wang, 2008). Components of knowledge within a category possess a graded structure. Heineken has tried to implement the KM knowledge management systems. The system has proved to be successful over the years in knowledge management in firms. The company operates under their mottos that ‘thinks and act as one’. Brand resonance pyramid Components involved in the Heineken involve the brand power, the strength and other factors, which make the brand, sell well in the world market. Heineken has been the powerful brand and clearly establishing itself as a household name in the beer industry. This aspect makes the brand feature well in the world market. The customers who have developed the taste for the brand always would wish to have it repeatedly due to the consistency of flavor of the company’s products. The Heineken brand has dominated the world market for long, thus making its power in the global market to be strong. The brand originated from Europe and gradually spread over the world, and now it has reached almost all the corners of the globe (Wimmer & Mouncey, 2013). The Heineken Company produces different types of the drinks, which the customers have a variety to make a choice. The labels, logo and the elements of the brand also have made the company to be recognized worldwide. Heineken has over the years embarked on the global awareness; this has been achieved via many avenues of communication. Heineken has provided points of difference on its products, by creating strong, unique and favorable brands. The brand has to some extend tried to meet the customer expectations and the elicit positive response from them. Heineken has established six brand building blocks: brand performance, brand salience, customer judgment, brand resonance, customer emotion and brand imagery. Competitive analysis Many smaller companies are striving their best to catch up with the Heineken. Heineken being one of the globes brewing giants it sells its namesake beer packed in a signature bottle, which is green. It sells its beer to just every country in the world. The Netherlands-based company operates over one hundred and forty breweries and over seventy countries. The other well-known brands are Kingfisher and Amstel. Together with its brands, the company boasts over one hundred and seventy regional, special and international beers. These beers include Murphy’s Irish Red, Cordoba (Argentina) and Tiger (Asia). Heineken distributes soft drinks, wine and other beverages. To acquire a leg in South America, Heineken got a Mexican brewer of Tecate and Sol beers. Heineken has managed to overcome their competitors by use of their brand name, which is known worldwide (Wimmer & Mouncey, 2013). Appendix TABLE 1: Heineken Brands and Location Global Brands Desperados, SOL, Amsel, Heineken Strongbow and Affligen Western Europe Gold and Cruzcamp America Kaiser, Tecate, Dos Equis and Cristal Eastern and Central Europe Russian Oxota ana\d Zywiec Middle East and Africa Star, Mutzig and Primas TABLE 2:Profitability Financial Expected 2014 Expected 2015 Net Margin% 8.03% 8.81% Return On Assets 5.2% 5.63% Return On Equity 14.2% 14.6% References Aaker, D. (2011). Brand relevance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Aaker, D. (2011). Brand relevance. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. Bergh, J., & Behrer, M. How cool brands stay hot. Gammelgaard, J., & Dorrenbacher, C. The global brewery industry. Haig, M., & Haig, M. (2011). Brand success. London: Kogan Page. Heineken, H., & Russo, F. (2013). Groups described by element numbers. Forum Mathematicum, 0(0). Mouncey, P., & Wimmer, F. (2007). Market research best practice. Chichester, England: Wiley. Sluyterman, K., Bouwens, A., McKay, D., & Gelderen, A. (2014). Brewery, brand, and family: 150 years of Heineken. [Amsterdam]: Boom. Smit, B. The Heineken story. Wang, J. (2008). Brand new China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Wimmer, F., & Mouncey, P. (2013). Market research best practice. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Read More