Heineken Swot Analysis

The following analysis of Porter’s 5 Forces Model will help in determining the threats that my be present now or in the future and help determine opportunities and decisions regarding the marketing plan.

Demand for a good/product as Sherman et al. (2008) note "is the quantity of that good buyers would be willing and able to purchase during a given period, at various price levels"¦" Currently, the entity has "a 48.3 percent share of U.S. beer sales to retailers" (Anheuser Busch 2011). In this case, using the percentage of beer sales the firm makes to retailers as an indicator of demand, one can easily conclude that the demand for Anheuser Busch's products is quite high. The high demand in this case can be attributed to aggressive marketing and advertising as well as a recovering economy.

• The demand of American beer has been increased in Europe, Asia and South America.

A. 180 years of operation. This is one of their most compelling strengths. Being in operation for almost 200 years show the dedication the family has for the beer they produce and shows the amazing level of management they have. Just the fact that they have overcome hardships such as the great depression and the prohibition shows how powerful their management is.

Strives to be the leader in micro brewing while maintaining the core values it started with and had employee buy in even before it went” 100 % employee owned in2013” (Gorski, 2013).

Per capita beer consumption in the country had been stable for many years. In order to find new opportunities

Boston Beer Company Mission statement is to “seek long-term profitable growth by offering the highest quality product to the U.S. beer drinker”

Foods such as cheese included in the product will have to be chosen offering longer shelf lives;

Deutsche Brauerei was founded in 1737 and has been in the Schweitzer family for 12 generations. The company produces quality beer and has won awards over the years and is owned entirely by 16 uncles, aunts and cousins. In 1998, Deutsche Brauerei expanded into Ukraine. Despite the Russian debt crisis, the popularity of Deutsche’s beer increased its sales greatly and within three years of launch, Ukrainian consumers accounted for 28% of Deutsche’s sales. Furthermore, most of the unit growth in sales during that time period was also contributed by Ukraine. In an attempt to market the beer even more aggressively, Lukas hired Oleg Pinchuk, a marketing guy who understood the Ukrainian markets and had previous experience of

Political –Governments tend to exercise significant control over beer as it contains alcohol which has caused many problems in society and has addicted people. This attention from the government will affect Heineken in sale volume in the market. Many governments have imposed heavy taxes on liquor and beer imports, and with globalisation many brewers are looking for new markets where they can gain maximal profits. This proves to be a threat for Heineken. Heineken must conduct thorough research on countries policies on alcohol such as drinking in public, alcohol contents in drinks, legal drinking ages and must strategically plan their integration into these markets based on the research.

The Boston Beer Company is currently the largest craft beer company in the United States, however, the craft beer industry is growing in an otherwise shrinking market increasing the amount of serious competition that The Boston Beer Company is facing.

Of the available growth in the United States, most is attributed to a rising taste for super-premium products and products that adhere to lifestyle considerations (e.g., low-carbohydrate beers). The mini-baby boomers, or the 21 to 25 year old age segment, are anticipated to increase by 11 percent over the next 10 years. Thus, in attempts to gain market share, manufacturers are focusing product preference and advertising within this age demographic. On a global basis, considerable market growth is being experienced within the developing markets as a result of increased buying power and consumer demand. The beer industry continuum has shifted from “perfect competition” to “oligopolistic supply.” Despite efforts of world microbreweries and smaller brewers to

2》 Beer is popular for a long time period and is less affected by seasonal factors

Rivalry in the craft beer industry is high and in addition to the excise tax and overall high manufacturing cost have promoted mergers and acquisitions in order to consolidate and globalize the industry. Anheuser-Busch InBev merged with Belgium-based Inbev as one of the major transactions in 2008, forming Anheuser-Busch InBev. Heineken (HEINY) another major brewer, acquired the beer business of FEMSA in 2010. As in 2013, Anheuser- Busch InBev one of the market leaders acquired Grupo Modelo, Mexican brewer. In the following year 2014, Anheuser- Busch InBev reacquire Oriental Brewery, South Korea brewer. (Sharon Bailey) The acquisitions combined their market share and currently owns 41.2 percent of the US market.(Statista)

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