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This bulletin features a discussion with Heineken’s Chairman, Thony Ruys. What role can the Chairman play in ensuring global consistency and driving the priorities of the brand? Is there a global Heineken consumer? And what principles of leading global brands has Ruys found to be effective?
Thony Ruys (b. 1947) After 18 years with Unilever in the
Tradition and Change
EB: There’s often a very strong personality behind a global brand. Is that the case with Heineken?
Ruys: Of course -- Freddy Heineken. He was aware of everything, concerning himself with the smallest details. For example, he once sent back an enormous batch of café parasols because he felt that their color lit ladies in an unflattering way. That’s why you’ll never find anything other than green-and-white Heineken parasols. Heineken is a very different company from, for example, Unilever. You feel the legacy and the vision of Freddy Heineken everywhere.
Understanding the Global Young Adult Consumer
EB: What’s your greatest Global Branding challenge?
Ruys: Heineken has always appealed to the young adult consumer. One of my spearhead objectives is that Heineken retains that appeal. Over the last few years, beer has been under pressure in clubs and at parties because of the introduction of mixed drinks, which are regarded as “hipper”. We must ensure that our beer remains relevant.
EB: Our conversations with corporations such as Nokia, Virgin, and Starbucks have shown us that every global brand director wrestles with the question of how to manage brand development at the central level without neglecting local customer insights. How do you develop a brand worldwide without making too many compromises?
Ruys: Freddy Heineken always asked, “And what would the consumer think about it?” That made an impression on me.
Right after my appointment, I went around the world to learn more about the young adult consumer. I wanted everyone at the company to grasp just how important it was that we understand this market. In many countries, I sat in on local research about young adults. I also often spoke personally with the local young adults, usually without them knowing my job title, so that I’d get to hear the naked truth. After a number of months, the ball started rolling, and more and more initiatives emerged. Project Beacon, as we call it internally, has already brought our marketers closer to the consumers in their twenties.
EB: So Project Beacon was about getting all marketers across the globe more engaged with their local youth market?
Ruys: Yes. Some assume that a uniform urban culture has come into being among young adults in big cities. However, what we learned from Project Beacon was that these 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.
The challenge for an international brand is to inspire but at the same time remain personally relevant. A good example is the Thirst Platform that 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.
EB: Are you seeing a shift in dynamics between global brands and consumers?
Modern consumers increasingly have problems with the intrusiveness and uniformity of brands. As a result, a new wave of branding has come into being in which the consumer gives meaning and content to the brand. In other words, it’s now the consumer who’s choosing the brand, as opposed to our previous situation in which the brand chose the consumer.
For example, there are rebellious brands such as Gsus and Quicksilver that are latched onto by young people. There are also a few global brands that are very successful, such as Nike and Sony, in part because they’ve brought out special editions for select young consumers.
From Project Beacon we learned that we need to continually reinvent Heineken in order to be successful with our target groups. As a result, we’ve brought out a considerable number of new products and communication concepts. One notable example is the Alu bottle, which we‘re now rolling out internationally.
Heineken introduced the ALU bottle last year in
Global vs. Local Brand Leadership
EB: An issue that arises time and again is how to manage global brands, and what responsibilities should be placed at central versus local levels. At the beginning of this year, the papers were full of stories about marketing reorganizations within Heineken. It seemed as though you were centralizing all marketing power.
Ruys: Yes and no; we drew a very clear line.
Our two global brands, Heineken and Amstel, are now almost entirely steered centrally from the
At the same time, we’ve strengthened the importance of and the resources for our local brands. Don’t forget that beer is still largely a local business. Our local brands are often the market leaders in their respective countries.
EB: Many global organizations have come to standardize back-end production while preserving “end of line” flexibility to allow for local diversity. What’s Heineken’s approach?
Ruys: We believe strongly in that, too. We harmonize the bottle for a number of countries, creating substantial savings. At the same time, we make sure the local consumer can identify with the label and contents.
EB: Global brand directors put a lot of time and effort into making all team members understand precisely what they can contribute to the success of the brand. How does Heineken communicate this to, say, a brand manager in
Ruys: Our global team is increasingly focusing on communicating with and supporting our local marketers. I indicated earlier that for our two global brands, a number of important aspects are set— positioning, name and logo. In addition, we try to pass on best practices from other countries so that the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented; and central media planners play an important advisory role for local colleagues.
EB: Companies with strong brands take organizational activation very seriously. For example, Dove’s global brand director recently conducted a brand stewardship tour in five regions with more than 2,000 people invited. Nokia’s global brand director sends every new marketer a ”brand book” as a welcoming gift.
Ruys: I too believe in the head office communicating fundamental brand values. However, it’s also important to remember and acknowledge local differences. The key is to find the right balance between central guidelines that the entire organization “lives by” and the content of the brand at a local level. It’s only when you understand and properly manage the relationship between the global brand and the local consumer that you have a strong global brand.
EB: American corporations often find it difficult to find the right people for international marketing positions. A headhunter recently told me that she’d recommended an American Hispanic for a regional brand management post in
Ruys: Very much so! Given Heineken’s history, you’ll still see many Dutch people occupying important positions throughout the company. However, we have marketers from all countries working on Heineken and Amstel. This diversity is crucial; otherwise, we’d be dealing with these beers as export products. Heineken and Amstel are genuine global brands, and their management reflects that.
Principles of Effective Global Brand Leadership
In this discussion, Thony Ruys emphasizes the importance of several of the Principles of Leading Global Brands™.
Project Beacon, Thony Ruys’ initial push to get the whole company closer to local consumers gave a clear leadership signal to the company. Everyone at Heineken quickly understood where they should be looking for growth ideas and build on the brand heritage, as developed by Freddy Heineken. By visiting and personally speaking with consumers around the world, Ruys led by example and embodied the brand to local marketers.
Heineken’s “Thirst Platform” is a very effective approach to leveraging global scale. Instead of trying to push a fixed global promotion campaign across the globe, the central team truly added value for local marketers by providing a “platform” that is flexible enough to travel. The fact that local marketers were subsequently challenged to develop locally relevant translations of the program recognizes the importance of inspiring marketing excellence at a local level.
By recognizing that not all brands in the portfolio need to be managed in the same way, Ruys is leading Heineken from an export company to a truly global marketing organization. We feel he is striking the right balance between global harmonization and local relevancy and that this mix will drive Heineken to growth.
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