In this episode of The Teachify English Podcast it's a little bit different as I wrote a rough script so you can read as you listen given that I'm on my own...let me know what you think and get ready to sum up the podcast to your teachers ;)
Business Case Studies: Heineken & Rolex
The first one is Heineken, one of the leaders of the beer and alcohol industry as it is the second largest producer of beer in the world. So, simply put, that’s a whole lot of beer but did you know that Heineken has been around for over a century and a half?
Yep, it was founded in 1864 in Amsterdam when it began as a small brewery. Interestingly enough, it kept the same recipe for over a hundred years before experiencing innovation and starting to adapt to the modern, globalized world we live in today.
One of their tactics has been the mass purchasing of competitors to eliminate competition while cutting prices so the more beer you make worldwide, the cheaper it is. A great example of economies of scale.
Anyway, Heineken has an incredible variety of brands such as desperados, Amstel, tiger, and yes, the finest beer in the world…Cruzcampo! olé
Moving on from the business side of things, are you a beer lover? What kind of beer do you like most? I love beer, like many of us and I always get a horrible hangover, I’m so hungover and I actually really like Guiness, IPAs and the typical beer that’s served from a tap and it’s not ice cold, nor warm but you know, room temperature let’s say…I know Spanish people are picky about their beer and it must be freezing cold which is understandable in summer when it’s boiling outside.
Our next company case study is Rolex…the luxury Swiss wristwatch manufacturer. Now, unfortunately I don’t own a Rolex but one way, I will…hopefully haha
Well, despite the company being known as Swiss, the original founder was in fact German and he moved to Switzerland for work before moving again to London which is where Rolex became popular and profitable. This was in the early 20th century and back then, pocket watches were much more popular than wristwatches as they were sturdier and didn’t break easily, it wasn’t until decades later when they caught on and became trendy.
A curious thing to bear in mind with both companies, Heineken and Rolex is that they focussed their attention on sponsorship of events as a way of spreading the word about the companies, this was, at the time, an innovative marketing practice which bore fruit.
I mentioned that I aim to one day own a Rolex, but in truth, I couldn’t care less as my phone tells me the time and I’m always glued to it, besides that, I’m quite happy with my cheap Casios that I almost always have…these affordable battery-powered watches are good enough for me and many others.
It seems that the sustained success of Rolex is down to the fact that they’re so unique and expensive that they represent a kind of status symbol that only the rich and famous can afford. I’d say they’re wasting their money, but if you have the money then you might as well spend it I suppose.
That’s it for today team, I hope you liked it…before finishing off, a joke or two of course…
Why did the man sit on his clock? He wanted to be on time.
Have you ever tried eating a clock? It’s very time-consuming.
Thanks for listening everyone, any questions, contact [email protected]
