Value Co-Creation Heineken

To create additional value for the customers Heineken needs to create interaction between the company and the customers to develop or adapt new or existing products in order to keep the customer satisfied. Accordingly, it means that the customers become part of an improved network that will give benefits for both parties. Due to the technological developments such as the accessibility to the internet for almost 40% of the entire world, it has become easier for organizations to gather valuable customer data. Innovation has been a major factor in the process of value co-creation. Therefore, Heineken has aligned its strategy with this and has set a target to double its innovation rate in 2020. Heineken is doing this by cooperating with as called external organizations which have know how about innovating. The company uses an online platform which is called the Innovators Brewhouse for open innovation[ CITATION Gab14 \l 1043 ].

In order to stay connected with its customers, Heineken uses one of its six business priorities; create permanent communication with the customer to develop other global brands. The brand portfolio significantly contributes to a better reputation and the creation of more value for the customers[ CITATION Gab14 \l 1043 ]. The reinventing strategy of the advertising process can be regarded as topnotch. Every year the Heineken company creates commercials, slogans events which make the Heineken consumers laugh, think, cry and drink.

Conclusions

Heineken is and will be one of the most interesting companies in the world to follow. The company has created a gigantic base of customers who are daily satisfied by the Heineken products and other beer brands owned by the Heineken International. The beer brand is able maintain sustainable growth in the upcoming years because their implementation of their business priority strategies and their company values. Customer experience management has been a key factor in this achieved growth. Owing to the rise of social media some opportunities have occurred for Heineken. Changing their marketing strategy resulted in a huge consumer base on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which the company can use to get more knowledge about their customer’s behavior. Moreover, Heineken’s continuous innovating strategy makes sure they can keep up with the fast-paced consumer world. Minds of consumers get triggered and through their creating of events, advanced products or platforms the consumers will feel connected and EXPERIENCE the brand itself.

Recommendations

Comparing Heineken situation to other beer brewers, the company can still gain some market share. Since the two competitors are relatively so big compared to Heineken, this could be a real threat if the strategy stops working. Therefore, the company needs to exploit their brand awareness to a higher extend. The brand has so much power in the world and this is mainly due their strategies towards customers. Heineken needs to gain market share in the areas where it is not known yet in order to survive against their competitors Anheuser-Beusch InBev and SABMiller.

In addition to this, Heineken should focus on the implementation of non-alcoholic beer. Customers nowadays are living more and more healthy lifestyles, but beer with alcohol in it does not fit into this picture. This new thinking of lifestyle creates another potential target group. Heineken with its brand recognition and quality can easily fulfill at least a significant part of this group. Making better non-alcoholic beer with the same quality and experience as normal beers could be revolutionary.