Background:
SABMiller is one of the world’s largest brewers, with 2004/05 lager sales volumes in excess of 148 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over 40 countries across four continents; a portfolio of strong brands and market leading shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations. Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world.
In July 2005, the company annouced plans to invest £30million to promote its key brands in UK. As such, SABMiller launched MILLER BRANDS UK, a new operating company that would manage the sales, marketing and distribution of its key drinks brands including Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzuro, Miller Genuine Draft and Castle Lager. For the company to be successful, SABMiller realised that its brands must be seen as a lifestyle ‘must have’ and the products portrayed as ‘cool’ and ‘trendy’.
The company set about changing its image to appeal to the young, aspirational 20-somethings, with SABMiller’s advertising, direct marketing, public relations and promotions all reflecting these new messages. The company also wanted its employees to be exposed to the images and to help create what has became known as the ‘wow factor’.
New offices:
In May 2005, in anticipation of the new investment in the UK, SABMiller set about looking for new offices. Not only would the office have to house the new staff that were currently being recruited, but they wanted a building that would reflect their new brand values and clearly portray to employees, partners and visitors that SABMiller is an exciting company and a great place to work.
“The old offices were not conducive to the way the company operates,” explained Roger Chappé de Léonval, IT Manager, SABMiller. “They were a shared office space that did not reflect our corporate image or brand.”
The search for new offices lead SABMiller to a 1980s-style building in Woking, Surrey. It was the perfect location and space for SABMiller. The building was completely gutted and redone in a style that was in keeping with new company image. The building is now bright and airy, has lots of open and communal areas and certainly has that ‘wow’ factor.
One unified network:
A central part of creating the ‘wow factor’ was getting the network and AV systems behind the scenes right. SABMiller wanted to have one single infrastructure, so put in a completely new network, which would run its IT, telephone system as well as AV (audio visual).
“Having one network was crucial to our overall aim of creating a spectacular office,” explained, Roger Chappé de Léonval. “We did not want to have to deal with loads of cables and wires. By running everything from a single infrastructure, we could help save the company substantial amounts of money, and this is a more cost effective way to run a network.”
AV is key:
Traditionally, all AV is piped into a building using coaxial cabling, which is expensive to maintain and slow to deploy. Furthermore, it requires a completely separate system and could not run off a single infrastruture network, which was a prerequisite for SABMiller.
SABMiller turned to its trusted AV supplier, AuDeo for help. AuDeo had previously worked with SABMiller in their old offices so understood the company and its needs. At that time, AuDeo had started to work with Exterity, a Scottish based company who specialise in network AV.
“We knew straight away that Exterity would be the ideal solution,” explained Kevin Wilson, Managing Director, AuDeo. “All the other network AV products were difficult to use and had heavy back-ends, where as Exterity’s system is a simple ‘plug and play’ solution.”
Testing, Testing:
Before moving into the offices, SABMiller commisioned a one day trial of Exerity’s iSocket and TVGateways, which together would enable the distribution of multimedia material such as video, TV and DVDs through the network.
“One day was more than enough for initial test,” explained Roger Chappé de Léonval. “The product is so simple and easy to use that we knew straight away that this was going to be the right product for us.”
To get internal buy-in, Roger Chappé de Léonval presented the product to the building project team. Feedback from the team was very positive, so AuDeo and Exterity were given the green light to start deployment.
Roll out:
In just two days AuDeo and Exterity rolled out the iSocket and TVGateway solution. Working together the two companies simply extended SABMiller’s Ethernet network to include Exterity’s TVGateways, which are ‘plug and play’ broadcast TV to IP (internet protocol) network distribution products, enabling terrestrial and broadcast feeds to be streamed across the network. Exterity’s iSocket technology was then installed to allow any display device, such as televisions and plasma screens, to be connected directly to the network for direct and easy access to all available digital media.
Up and running:
The new system now enables any media stored on the network to be streamed to eight meeting rooms, a four-screen product catwalk within the reception area ,the atrium which has one large plasma screen and several smaller screens, the bar area, which has two televisions, and additional screens within the open areas of the building.
“The deployment of the new AV system was very straight forward and simple. The work was carried out very quickly and the system was up and running in a matter of days. We had just one problem,” explained Roger Chappé de Léonval. “Deciding what material we were going to stream!”
The SABMiller team decided that it would stream company’s marketing media primarily to the product catwalk, and as the system allows for easy ‘channel’ selection, this could be presented to any of the screens throughout the building. “We wanted to share our new brand identity with all our employees and create an impact on new customers and partners when they entered the building,” explained Roger Chappé de Léonval. “We continually get positive remarks around how this system has created the ‘wow factor’ we wanted.”
SABMiller uses the Exterity system to stream news, sport and entertainment. “News and sport are the most popular channels. Most employees like to catch up on what is happening in the world at lunchtime so we have the main news channels on different screens in the atrium. Whereas, the sports channels are on when England is playing in any sport! “During the Ashes final in September last year, we were inundated with requests to show the match live! I dread to think what it will be like this summer when England are in the World Cup!”
In every meeting room, employees have access to the entire network, which allows tem to easily so customers and partners any of our latest material. The marketing department have been using it to view and share SABMiller advertisements, making it easier to review new material.
“Overall, we are delighted with the Exterity and AuDeo system. It is easy to use, reliable and has allowed us to stick to our one network infrastructure policy,” concluded Roger Chappé de Léonval. “Moreover, it has helped us to create the ‘wow factor’ that we really wanted from our new offices. It has also been a vital tool in helping us to share our new brand image with our employees and visitors.”
“The SABMiller offices look fantastic, they certainly do reflect their new brand image,” commented Colin Farquhar, CEO, Exterity. “We are really pleased that our network AV solution has played a key role in helping SABMIller to hit the UK market with a big bang and to make the most of its £30million Miller Brands investment in this market.”