E-Malt.com News article: 2491

Canada: Molson Inc. announced on April 14 a reorganization of its key Canadian business unit giving priority to strengthening the national core brands and adding emphasis to the development of key markets across the country. The areas of Marketing and Market Development are core to this change. In Marketing, the focus will be on exploiting the potential of each core brand through a group of highly focused, marketing experts who will have responsibility for maximizing each brand's sales across Canada. In Market Development, increasing profitable share will be driven by a focused sales strategy as well as an expanded "go-to-market" approach designed to meet customer needs and the specificity of regional and local markets.

"Molson's new organization structure has been designed to deliver profitable market share growth in Canada. It will give national focus to each core brand and new impetus to market development in order to win share, market by market," explained Daniel J. O'Neill, President and CEO of Molson Inc. "The organization will gain in efficiency, as the complexity of managing separate regions is eliminated and current expertise in marketing, sales, and trade marketing will have greater influence on the broader national business base."

The new organization will be driven by three key leaders - Kevin Boyce, the new President and COO of Molson North America, Les Hine, Chief Marketing Officer; and Dave Perkins, President, Market Development - North America. "Les Hine's primary focus is one of the Corporation's most important assets – core brands - while Dave Perkins leads the go-to-market strategy in Canada and the USA. Market Development will include such areas as category management, market intelligence, trade marketing and marketing asset exploitation, all of which will play a critical role in supporting regional and local sales teams and their strategies," further added Kevin Boyce.

Raynald Doin, who headed the Québec/Atlantic division and who was the architect of Québec's market success in recent years will become Senior Vice President, Strategy and Integration, reporting directly into D. J. O'Neill. These changes are effective April 14th and are expected to enhance Molson's marketing and sales execution as it gears up for peak season in the coming months.

Molson Inc. is one of the world's largest brewers of quality beer with operations in Canada, Brazil and the United States. A global brewer with $3.5 billion in gross annual sales, Molson traces its roots back to 1786 making it North America's oldest beer brand. Committed to brewing excellence, Molson combines the finest natural ingredients with the highest standards of quality to produce an award-winning portfolio of beers including Molson Canadian, Molson Export, Molson Dry, Rickard's, Marca Bavaria, Kaiser and Bavaria.


16 April, 2004