SABMiller’s Graham Mackay delivers lecture
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Last night, over 200 of us gathered to hear SABMiller’s CEO, Graham Mackay at The Royal College of Physicians, London. Today, SABMiller owns over 200 brands with interests in over 75 countries across six continents. Here is a short extract of his speech on how the beer industry is resisting globalisation
Since SABMiller listed on the London Stock Exchange 10 years ago, our sales and revenues have grown by over seven times from $3.5 billion to $26.3 billion and our market capitalisation has increased 8 fold to make us the biggest drinks business on the London Stock Exchange. Today almost three quarters of SABMiller’s earnings come from emerging markets. This gives us a very distinct window on the world and an acute appreciation of time and place and the shifting tides of economic and political power.
It has instilled in us a strong understanding that – whilst you can harness the scale advantages of being a global business – you cannot impose a single, rigid business model on a range of very diverse local markets. For example, SAB entered the Chinese market – now the biggest beer market in the world – 17 years ago. We had to adapt to China’s very distinct political, economic and cultural conditions. This included a dismal reputation for locally produced beer, which was somewhat justified given the production standards we inherited. So we adapted, invested and built brands. And despite some early challenges, have created the biggest beer business in China together with our joint venture partner. And our local Snow beer is now the biggest beer brand in the world by volume.
We’ve learned many things since leaving Africa. But the most important lesson for me is that while companies like ours may be very large global businesses, we still need to respect local customs and circumstances to succeed. Rudyard Kipling – often described as the “Poet of Empire” – put it so neatly when commenting on British attempts to exert influence in China: “Asia is not to be civilised after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old”. Kipling’s travels across the British Empire – including annual trips to South Africa in the late 1800s – clearly taught him to have a healthy respect for the limits of a western hegemony.
Read our exclusive interview with Graham and look out for more extracts from his speech over the next few days. Did you come along last night? What elements of Graham’s lecture resonated most strongly with you?
Posted: March 29th, 2011 | Author: elen.lewis | Filed under: Growth Drivers, Makes You Think, Uncategorized, future of marketing, leadership | Tags: graham mackay, marketing society annual lecture, SABMiller | Leave a Comment »
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