in China

did a lot of ‘soul-searching’, concerned that
Blue Girl’s customers would react adversely
to changing the character and taste of
the beer.
YET YOU WENT AHEAD AND BASICALLY
NEVER LOOKED BACK.
The move to Korea allowed us to change how
we did things in the past. We felt that making
this change wasn’t a big risk for us. Up to
that time, it was a minute business. So, we
decided to go ahead.
Almost immediately, there were three
benefits:
• Our cost of goods improved
• The beer was fresher
• We took the opportunity to optimize the taste
to better suit the local Chinese consumer. It
was stilled brewed in the German tradition
but was adjusted to be slightly milder in
taste
critical marketing elements, such as
choosing the popular hit ballad “Waiting for
a Girl Like You” by Foreigner to accompany
Blue Girl Beer ads.
The results were that we grew to 5%, 10%
and then 20% of the market – which took
about 20 years
YOU SELL BLUE GIRL ALMOST
EXCLUSIVELY IN GREATER CHINA. HOW
DO OTHER MARKETS COMPARE WITH
HONG KONG?
We’ve been in Taiwan for about 10 years.
It’s similar in some ways to Hong Kong in
past, dominated by one brand – Taiwan
Beer – and one import, Heineken. While
the market is growing, it’s not been
exponential.
Blue Girl also has moved into southern
China, but took a conscious decision
not to be a national brand – competing
“We had to ask ourselves whether this was a business we were serious about
or whether it would just go down in the annals of something we did for a while.
THE DECISION WAS MADE TO BE MORE
SERIOUS ABOUT IT,” says Hennig.
FOLLOWING THAT MOVE, BLUE GIRL, WHICH
WAS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN PREVIOUSLY,
GREW RAPIDLY IN HONG KONG. HOW DID
THAT HAPPEN?
San Miguel, with about 60%, and Carlsberg
(10-15%) dominated the market in the 1990s
and fought ‘hammer and tong for market
share.’
We took a ‘slow and steady’ approach,
focusing on local, not expat, Hong Kong
consumers. It was mostly sold in Chinese
restaurants and in big bottles, and was
popular at weddings. It’s only in recent years
that we’ve started to market more extensively
to Western-style restaurants, pubs and
karaoke bars.
The brand was managed by an highly effective
Jebsen executive, who had patience and
good instincts. He and his team added some
with the Tsingdao’s, Snow’s, Harbin’s,
etc. At the same time, Jebsen has
noticed the development of ‘pockets’ of
premiumisation in China; appreciation of
quality beer, as well as wine, that helps
brands like Blue Girl. This means that
Blue Girl has done well in Fujian province,
especially in and around Xiamen, and
Guangdong, where Jebsen focuses its
attention.
Throughout Greater China, Blue Girl now
sells around 7 million cases a year, which
represents progress but only a drop in the
bucket in the China market.
Going forward, we will continue to
concentrate on Greater China – and are
quite happy with that. We’re better off
being in three markets and doing them
well. n
IMA ASIA CEO DIALOGUES
AUTUMN 2015
14