01/09/2008 07:56:15 AM 
(2) 
(2) They focus on the beer itself, Heineken has done the same, but it's also created some interesting innovation in packaging and product delivery; the keg can and the draught keg are two breakthrough ideas.
In March of this year, the will launch take the delivery innovation a step further with the Beer Tender.
It's a home draught beer system developed in conjinction with Krups and others.
It's a great move on so many levels; it elevates the brand, it provides interesting interaction and engagement for the consumer, it has talk value and provides an entry point for dialog with the older segment of beer drinkers, who mainly drink beer at home.
It will be interesting to see how other brewers respond to this.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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packaging form wins the day
Ben, You are right, there are good examples of innovative ideas from other beers that play a role on pack. I guess where Heineken stands out in taking ownership of the draught idea- starting with the keg can, then the draught keg and now Beer Tender. Each innovation has been a step change in the innovation of the packaging form. The other guys haven't done this. I should have explained this more clearly in the post.
Posted by Ed Cotton on 01/10/2008 04:56 PM
Ben, You are right, there are good examples of innovative ideas from other beers that play a role on pack. I guess where Heineken stands out in taking ownership of the draught idea- starting with the keg can, then the draught keg and now Beer Tender. Each innovation has been a step change in the innovation of the packaging form. The other guys haven't done this. I should have explained this more clearly in the post.
Posted by Ed Cotton on 01/10/2008 04:56 PM
It appears you don't have Flash installed.
I agree that Heineken has done a great job at visually innovating it's package but I think that Coors with it's cold can has done a better job at using innovation to reflect it's positioning. I also think that Budweiser has done a decent job with highlighting things like Born on Date and Stay Fresh Cap which, are basically crap, but does provide them some marginal differentiation against Miller.