The brewing industry today is changing under the influence of regulation, sustainability, changes in consumer habits, media fragmentation and an increasingly demanding labor market. In such an environment, communication is no longer only support to the business, but one of the key tools for understanding the context, managing reputation and building relationships with employees, consumers, institutions and other important stakeholders.
We discuss this with Ljudmila Bratko Gašpić, Corporate Affairs Manager at Heineken Croatia, who leads the areas of strategic communication, media relations, internal communication, sponsorships, sustainability, relations with institutions and public affairs within the company. She built her professional experience at the agency McCann Erickson, Varaždinska Banka and the Croatian News Agency, and her work in the field of communications and sustainability has been recognized with a number of professional awards.
In the interview, she talks about how Heineken Croatia is adapting to an increasingly complex business environment, why transparency, dialogue and consistency are now crucial elements of communication, how the habits of young consumers are changing, what a large corporation today expects from a PR agency, and why she sees artificial intelligence as an opportunity, but not as a replacement for human judgment, experience and strategic thinking.
How has Heineken changed over the years? What are the key elements of the company’s communication today?
Heineken Croatia has developed over the years in line with changes in the environment, from the regulatory and market environment to the way people consume media and information.
One of the key factors is certainly the increasingly complex regulatory framework, especially at the level of the European Union. Topics such as packaging, sustainability or responsible consumption today have a significant impact on business and require a proactive approach, not only in terms of compliance, but also in actively participating in dialogue with institutions and the industry.
At the same time, we have taken over responsibility for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which further emphasizes the need to understand different market and regulatory contexts and to adapt the approach to each market.
In the last few years, geopolitical challenges have also become increasingly pronounced, from disruptions in supply chains to broader economic uncertainty. This directly affects business decisions, but also the role of the Corporate Affairs function, which today implies an even stronger focus on risk management, relations with key stakeholders and timely communication.
It is also important to highlight changes in the market itself. Consumers today expect greater choice, from different brands and styles to formats and packaging, which further puts the focus on innovation and portfolio management. As brand builders, we must continuously adapt our offer to changes in habits and expectations, but also clearly communicate the value of each part of the portfolio.
In parallel, the way people consume media has also changed. Information is faster, more fragmented and comes through different channels, which means that communication must be clear, relevant and timely. In such an environment, the key elements of our communication today are, above all, transparency and open dialogue, both towards employees and external stakeholders. There is also an increasing focus on connecting business strategy with communication, so that messages are concrete and understandable, and not only informative. In addition, speed and consistency are important, especially in reputation management, as well as the ability to adapt the same key messages to different channels and audiences.
In short, Heineken Croatia today operates in a significantly more complex environment than before, and communication has become one of the key tools for navigating that context, from regulatory topics to relations with consumers and employees.
One of the challenges of today’s labor market is the changing structure of employees. How does Heineken conduct internal communication and do you employ foreign workers?
One of the key focuses of our Evergreen 2030 strategy is precisely people, especially diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the development of local talent. We believe that sustainable growth is not possible without strong and diverse teams, which is why we continuously invest in education, skills development and multiskilling, as well as in creating an environment in which everyone has the opportunity to contribute and progress.
We place special emphasis on encouraging open dialogue, listening to the needs of employees and building a culture in which diversity of perspectives is valued, with a clear focus on performance and results. In this context, the trend of growth in the share of women in senior and managerial positions is also visible, which further strengthens our organization.
Such an approach also plays a key role in the context of today’s labor market in Croatia, which is significantly more demanding than before, primarily due to low unemployment and strong competition for quality employees.
In such a context, internal communication plays a key role, not only in informing, but also in creating a sense of belonging and retaining employees.
At Heineken Croatia, it is strongly focused on dialogue and inclusion. Through tools such as the Pigeonhole platform, which we use in the preparation of our company meetings, employees can anonymously ask questions and vote for the topics that are most important to them. All questions are answered live, and additionally afterwards in writing, available to everyone in the organization. This means that transparency is not declarative, but an operational practice.
Also important is the willingness to listen. Through the initiative we called “Listening Rooms”, employees regularly talk with members of the management team in smaller groups, and their insights are turned into concrete actions.
We also devote great attention to employee wellbeing, through various lectures on topics much broader than the business itself, as well as through the possibility of free, completely anonymous psychological counseling.
Equally important, we place significant focus on connecting our Evergreen 2030 business strategy and communication, not only on people hearing the company’s direction, but on understanding what it specifically means for each of our employees. That is why we regularly cover key strategic topics at company meetings and connect them with concrete results and team priorities, so that every employee can see their role in their realization. On a monthly basis, we talk about progress towards the achievement of the strategy and strive to make the messages clear and applicable in everyday work.
What additionally differentiates us is that work in this industry is, at its core, fun. We do not only sell a product, but experience and connection, and we try to live that internally through different gatherings and initiatives such as Heineken® afterwork gatherings.
We still cover our workforce needs mostly locally, with a focus on developing and retaining existing employees.
In short, internal communication today is a key tool for creating an engaged and stable team, which in these market conditions is one of the greatest competitive advantages.
We are witnessing research showing that young people consume less alcohol. How are consumer habits changing and what does your research show?
Consumer habits are changing and we see this globally, especially among younger generations who are increasingly consciously considering their choices, not only how much they consume, but also when, how and with what expectations.
In addition, digitalization has completely expanded their view of the world. They no longer look for inspiration only locally, but follow trends and habits from different parts of the world through social networks. This means that consumer expectations today are shaped globally, and not only within a single market.
This is reflected in a greater focus on moderation, health and wellbeing, but also on the quality of the experience. At the center are socializing, the moment and the context, and not only the product.
We do not see this as a challenge for the industry, but as a natural evolution of consumer expectations, with consumers today looking for greater flexibility and choice adapted to different situations in life.
That is precisely why our focus is on always enabling consumers to have a choice, from different categories and styles to different alcohol levels, so that they can choose what best suits the moment in which they consume.
We respond to this very concretely through the development of non-alcoholic options and options with a lower alcohol content, such as Heineken® 0.0 and non-alcoholic Karlovačko, which enable greater flexibility in social occasions. At the same time, the perception of non-alcoholic beer is also increasingly changing. It is not necessarily chosen for functional reasons such as driving, reducing calorie intake or business obligations, but simply because people want it and enjoy its taste.
The key is that consumers always have a choice, with such options increasingly becoming the standard, and not the exception. In this context, the role of the brand is also expanding; it is not only about the product, but about creating experience and connecting people. In short, it is about a change in habits and context, and brands that understand this and adapt remain relevant.
You have dedicated a large part of your career to corporate communications. What does a large corporation expect from a PR agency today?
Expectations today are significantly broader than before. A communications agency is no longer only operational support, but a real strategic partner.
This primarily means understanding the business and the industry in which the client operates, as well as the broader context, from the local market to the European and global level, including the regulatory environment and reputational risks.
It is crucial to understand how macro trends, EU regulation and global geopolitical challenges spill over into local business and reputation.
In such an environment, an agency is expected to have the ability to anticipate topics, manage complex situations and be a reliable advisor in decision-making.
Equally important is understanding the strong connection between the communication function and other parts of the organization, from marketing and human resources to production and finance, because communication in practice is shaped through cooperation with the entire business.
In addition, speed and flexibility have become the standard, especially in crisis situations where a fast but thoughtful reaction is expected.
What often makes the difference is a deeper understanding of the organization itself, its culture, way of communicating and values. A communications agency that understands this can provide better-quality and more applicable recommendations.
The breadth of thinking, creativity in approaching topics and visual competence are also increasingly coming to the fore, because the way in which a message is shaped today is almost as important as the message itself.
In other words, a good communications agency today must be a combination of a strategic advisor, creative partner and reliable operational support.
Artificial intelligence: threat or opportunity? Do you use artificial intelligence in your work and do you consider it a threat or an opportunity for the communications industry?
I definitely see artificial intelligence as an opportunity, but with a responsible and thoughtful approach.
As a company, we are going through a broader digital transformation, in which advanced analytical tools and AI solutions are increasingly being used. At the business level, there is great potential in areas such as logistics planning, process optimization or sales forecasting, that is, wherever data can contribute to greater precision and efficiency. Some of these applications are already visible, while more significant effects will only develop in the coming years.
We see a similar trend in communications as well. Today, AI helps in trend analysis, faster and better-quality content preparation and better understanding of audiences, and in the future it will probably play an even greater role in personalization, that is, in making messages increasingly relevant and adapted to different groups of consumers.
At the same time, it is important to emphasize that in communications, the key elements that technology cannot replace still remain, context, understanding of the audience, as well as ethics and responsibility in the way we communicate.
That is why I see artificial intelligence primarily as a tool that increases productivity and helps improve the quality of work, but it does not replace human judgment, experience and strategic thinking.
In short, AI will not replace people in communications, but it will clearly differentiate those who know how to use it from those who ignore it.
If you were not working in communications, what would you do?
Probably something similar.
The closest thing to me would be an area where there is a combination of working with people, understanding the bigger picture and the possibility of influencing decisions. That combination is exactly what attracted me to communications.
If I were not in this field, I see myself in the domain of public policy, education or consulting, that is, in topics that have a broader social impact and where decisions are not made only on the basis of numbers, but also through an understanding of context and different perspectives.
Ultimately, the most important thing to me is that the job has meaning and that I see broader value in what I do, and those are the elements I found in communications.
