How Does Heineken Define High Quality?

Gordon Biersch has done very well in terms of year-on-year business growth and the strategic choices they made have served them well. Their emphasis on high quality, moderately priced food along with the choice of serving only in-house brewed premium German beer was instrumental in distinguishing them from their competition and making them successful. The location of their first restaurant was critical in attracting a large number of customers and helped them gain instant traction in an otherwise crowded market. Their target market was open to new concepts and hence the design of the restaurant was well received. The ambience of the restaurants provided a trendy and upscale dining experience which appealed to both younger and older generations. The Gordon Biersch team was customer focused and worked towards retaining their consumer by offering their regular customers with a beer stein with their names on it and a polished locker to keep the beer stein. This helped them develop brand loyalty amongst their customers. Their in house brewed German beer was flavorful and well-liked and the choice to sell only their in-house brewed beer helped them develop brand image and get their name out within the community and their target segment.

BBC should re-enter the light beer market by first abolishing the Boston Lightship brand. Not only is it an economical burden (fewer than 3,000 cases in sales does not meet the 5,000 cases cut off point), but also its brand image is virtually non-existent, and its product design contrasts with the values of light beer drinkers. While the weak image can be bolstered with increased marketing efforts, a flaw in the product design would be too much to fix. Therefore, a new light brand is proposed.

New Belgium brewery has increasingly grew throughout the years since their development in 1991. Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” (Budweiser, Miller, and Coors), NBB needs to be aggressive and strive to invest in the attractive beer industry in able to grow more. If positioned correctly, NBB and its main brand, Fat Tire, can continually grow. An evaluation of the industry, the business itself, its brands, and the customers and competitors is needed in order to be continuously successful.

Brand plays a key role in the beer-purchasing process, along with taste, price, special occasion,

The business level strategy of Heineken is to grow the business in a sustainable and

Anheuser-Busch Inbev is one of the largest breweries in the world. “Currently, Anheuser-Busch InBev has a product list of more than 200 beers, including global best-sellers Budweiser, Stella Artois, Beck’s, multi-country brands like Leffe and Hoegaarden, and strong “local jewels” such as Bud Light, Skol, Brahma, Quilmes, Michelob, Harbin, Sedrin, Cass, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, Chernigivske, and Jupiler, among others that have helped to make the company so successful. In addition,

The strategy that Heineken uses is that of differentiation. This strategy gains market share and competitive advantage by distinguishing their products from their competitors through excellent design. A U.S. wholesaler recently asked a group of marketing students to identify a group of beer bottles that had been stripped of their labels. The stubby green Heineken bottle was the only one among the group that showed an instant recognition. This strategy also focuses on high awareness, easy accessibility, and new products. Heineken spent a lot of money on the launch of Premium Light; the first time that brewer had created an extension of its flagship

Catherine, W., Tat Pui, L. and Henrik, U. (2011) The Roles of Branding for a Brand Entering

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”. However, as Keller highlights, a brand is also “something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence, and so on in the marketplace”. Therefore, a brand is an identity created to differentiate itself from the competitors and to be remembered in consumer’s mind.

In today's world, the name Red Bull and the slogan "Red Bull Gives You Wings has been inscribed into the minds of consumers around the globe. The popular energy drink, which seems to have sky-rocketed in US as well as world-wide sales is no miracle drug, although it does seem that way by the overflowing demand. Known to many as a coffee substitute, Red Bull is able to give its buyers that extra push or burst of energy to keep their day going due to its increased amounts of caffeine, without the nasty aftertaste of coffee. No doubt its marketing strategies have made a massive impact on its increased sales, but at its start, it is no lie to call Red Bull a self-made success. In a time where everyone is

Boston Beer Company (BBC) has enjoyed much success with their craft beers with Samuel Adams as their main focus. Being the leader of this segment, overtopping five of their competitors combined (Exhibit 1), the company now must decide how to take advantage of the light beer market. Boston Lightship, their current light beer, had been a small contributor in BBC’s product line. Currently, it is facing dwindling sales with product volumes down from 12 000 cases per month to 3000 cases per month.

That is undoubtedly case for Heineken. Analyzing its strengths and weaknesses it is clear that Heineken wasn’t a truly a global brand at the time the case was written, but was working on it. The confirmation of this is that the company’s presence in more than 170 countries all over the world. The brand is nationwide recognized, as a brand that was established in 19th century and from a local beer became a global icon. Heineken by working so hard on standardizing the brand image achieved its results. The goal for Heineken at the time was to build a demand for the product. In countries where the beer market is already mature like Japan, Australia or Spain Heineken never stopped growing. The obstacle for Heineken to become a global company was connected to the fact that Heineken’s marketing communication in many different countries was not consistent. Another obstacle that Heineken overcame over the years was the fact that it was difficult for the company to overcome the image of its beer as only for special occasions. To be global, Heineken must create the image and perception that Heineken is a daily beer. Also as of 1993, Heineken was associated in countries like Latin America as just only regular imported beer. To become global, the company needs to create advertising campaign in those countries emphasizing values of imported beer to build brand value and attract different customers. To be global Heineken needs to standardize its image and make it consistent

Guinness marketing is focused on the consumers by offering what they want, which are quality. The company want to deliver high quality standards and uses it as an advantage to stand out on the market by offering a stout beer, which is made from their own raw materials, on high-level of equipment and having employers with well-trained capability (Vanguard, 2013), because they believe that you cannot make money from people unless you are willing for people to make money from you (Sohn, 2013). They have also increased their focus on the marketing of Guinness brand name in 2013 by £34 million to boost its quality association on the beer market, so the drinkers get a feeling of quality when they taste a Guinness. This strategy is based on their market research, which confirm that consumers associate a quality pint with a quality pub and 80% of male drinkers believe getting the quality of serve right is more important in draught beer than in any other drink category (Charles, 2013). Therefore Guinness manages to implant a special place in the collective consumer conscience, which leads the consumer into thinking about the great heritage and consistency in quality they possess, wherever it is sold (Diego, 2013). This can be seen in their advertising and communication of slogan, which says that “Good things come to those who wait”, which is referring to the time it takes to pour a perfect Guinness.

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits and beer – a business built on the principles and foundations laid by the giants of the industry. Diageo picked Africa as a potential market using Global Branding strategies. I am going to explain their strategies and early mistakes and their success in this essay (Trefis Team, 2015)

Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.