Heineken refines focus to build a powerhouse global brand position

A more centralised approach to marketing and communications, with a view to creating a global power brand, has earned Heineken the Certificate of Excellence in the Advertiser of the Year category in the MEDIA 2000 Agency of the Year awards. While it has grown consistently over the past decade to become the region's most valued beer brand, Heineken's vision for the future was to consolidate its position and grow volume and further value in the brand. To accomplish this objective, a more focused approach on building the brand into a truly global power brand was needed. Bates Asia was appointed to help lead the way. Its task was to adapt, help and work with Heineken to achieve a more consistent brand-building approach. This involved not only a more consistent approach to the brand-building exercise across Asia-Pacific but a process that allowed local market input to create more regional and global communication that could work anywhere - ideas that could work across such diverse countries as Vietnam and Singapore. It is important to note that prior to 2000, the Heineken brand in Asia-Pacific was driven market-by-market with communication propositions developed specifically for individual markets. As a result, the region was not unified in its communication and brand-building strategy. Bates' key task, therefore, was to build more synergies and consistencies. The agency created and developed campaigns for regional and worldwide usage to provide: - Greater brand awareness - Stronger empathy with the brand - Well-liked creative - Consistent image and message The new campaigns also aim to achieve global consistency around the Heineken communication proposition, which is "It could only be Heineken". At the same time, they built and reinforced consistent brand values as well as developed integrated programmes which focused on delivering more memorable and relevant messages to consumers. The campaigns - broken down into television, print, outdoor and below the line - have been provided to markets around the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam in Asia-Pacific. However, the strength of the overall strategy lay in the fact that local Heineken offices could determine the implementation of the campaign in their own markets. Singapore offers a good example of the kinds of results the campaign achieved. The sales volume of Heineken grew by 21 per cent year-on-year. Based on the Malt, Liquor and Beverage tracking, spontaneous brand awareness was up by 10 per cent. In addition, pre-testing research confirmed that the creative ideas were well liked and that it successfully communicated the 'It could only be Heineken' proposition. The Heineken brand in Singapore, therefore, was able to refocus itself based on the global positioning to become a more accessible brand and not just a niche player.

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