Revitalising an Iconic Beer Brand

MalaysiaDANISH-born S?ren Ravn, 37, was appointed as managing director of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad  early in 2010. He so spent the four years prior in Hong Kong, where he was first vice president for Supply  Chain, HR & Business Development for Carlsberg Greater China and later managing director of Carlsberg Hong  Kong & Macau. Mr Ravn doesn't consider himself young for his current position. "In fact, I am not young in the beer business. I have been with Carlsberg Group for more than 12 years and in Asia for five years now," he comments. More on his Carlsberg Malaysia experience …

Carlsberg Malaysia has lost its No. 1 market leadership to Guinness Anchor Bhd. Isn't the recent campaign of changing the design just pouring new wine into old wineskins?

It is true that Carlsberg Malaysia as a company is No. 2 in the Malaysian market when measured on total beer and stout volume but Carlsberg Green Label as a brand remains the No. 1 beer brand in Malaysia. In all the consumer research we did, the Carlsberg brand comes out very significantly as the most preferred beer brand amongst Malaysian beer consumers. In April this year, we successfully rolled out the biggest re-launch campaign in Carlsberg history where Carlsberg, across 140 markets, introduced a new design on both primary and secondary packaging presented in a brand new look with the same great taste.

'To regain the spot as the No. 1 beer company in Malaysia, we will need to match or overtake our competitors in the premium segment whilst continuing the leadership with the Carlsberg brand as our strong power brand'
— S?ren Ravn, Managing Director, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia

To regain the spot as the No. 1 beer company in Malaysia, we will need to match or overtake our competitors in the premium segment whilst continuing the leadership with the Carlsberg brand as our strong power brand. Through acquisition of our subsidiary, Luen Heng, a few years ago, we now have an extensive premium portfolio range in Malaysia. We are the only brewer in Malaysia that has offered seven of the world's top international beer brands, namely Carlsberg, Tuborg, Corona, Budweiser, Stella Artois, Foster's and Beck's. The more recent additions [to our premium portfolio] include Kronenbourg 1664, the No. 1 premium beer from France; Asahi, the No. 1 beer in Japan and Erdinger, the No. 1 wheat beer from Germany. Our speciality beer, such as Hoegaarden, is also enjoying very strong growth in the super premium segment.

Over time, we expect the position of Carlsberg as the No. 1 beer complimented by the leading super premium beer portfolio to give us the opportunity to eventually regain the market leadership position.

Brewers often complain about the high taxes in Malaysia but they don't seem to hesitate to raise prices, as in their actions recently. Is that fair, as ultimately your consumers will pay one way or the other?

In light of the continuing escalation in the costs of key raw materials, in particular malt and hops as well as packaging materials, we have recently announced a price increase averaging 3%. Most consumer products have also, over the last two years, increased their retail prices. Compared to other consumer products, the price increases on our beer and stout products are relatively lower and in line with general inflation.

I notice a lot more people drinking Hoegaarden. Isn't it cannibalising Carlsberg's flagship brand?Zoom Huarache 2K4 Kobe