Heineken: Positioning in Changing Times

Background

Adrien Tremblay was a rising star at Heineken NV. French-born and educated

at the premier INSEAD business school, he had already proven himself. After

joining the company in 1997 as a Sales and Marketing Manager in France,

Adrien worked his way up to the post of General Manager of Brasseries*,

Managing Director of Heineken for France, and then Regional President of

Heineken Western Europe since 2005. With his sales and marketing

background that had included internal organization and management of

consumer experiences, Adrien understood well that the success of a beer

brand depended as much on its position with core consumers as it did on

potential consumers who had yet to fully identify with the brand. He also knew

well the balancing act between keeping existing customers happy and

managing changes in their tastes, behaviors, and identities.

Tonight Adrien weighed the pros and cons of various strategies he could pitch

to the HNV board in just a few short hours regarding the company’s growth in

Spain. Spain was a challenging market in which to maintain traction. This was

not due to an over-competitive landscape in Spain’s beer market. On the

contrary, Spain had a deeply entrenched wine culture; beer was such a

cultural anomaly there that Adrien continually faced challenging questions

effectively to reach the most important target markets for HNV.

Adrien sought the advice of his Heineken Spain (Heineken