By Barbara Ellington, Senior Gleaner WriterMARK MCKENZIE, managing director of Red Stripe, says the company is now in the advanced stages of putting a global brand team in place to drive a massive overseas export campaign.
In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Mr. McKenzie, who assumed the top job at Red Stripe on May 1, said the new team is headed by former acting head of the company, Joost Visser, who is now based in Paris, France. Grace Silvera, who previously held the post of communication and conversion director, will also be a part of the team but will be based in Jamaica.
Mr. McKenzie said Mr. Visser was chosen to head the team because during his stint in Jamaica he gained an understanding of the culture and he will be in constant contact with the Spanish Town Road team.
"Ms. Silvera is a part of the team because if you are expanding globally, you need a Jamaican link that is physically based here and she is best suited to represent us abroad. His role is important for us."
"We will begin small and hopefully get bigger depending on the challenges, but this new team's focus will be on exporting our brand to more markets overseas and push sales volumes as we do so. We see Jamaica as a brand and Red Stripe beer is ranked high on the list of most recognised Jamaican brands. We have lots of equity and it is a good time to brand our product alongside the country, taking it to another level and bring a sense of pride to the country," Mr. McKenzie said.
Red Stripe is aiming to go beyond its core markets of loyal customers based abroad and meet the needs of new customers. Currently the unique brand is available in 20 Caribbean countries, 50 United States cities, 20 European countries, seven Canadian cities as well as Tokyo, Japan and most recently, Australia.
The company is also getting ready to launch promotional campaigns for most of its brands, starting today with Red Stripe Lite.
