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Appendix 3
Innovation Strategy (Big Data) – International Business Review: 2 October, 2018
Adapted from: Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-worlds-biggest-brewing-company-is-thirsty-for-your-data/2017/12/28/3f07ae1e-e127-
11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6626bb43f563

The world’s biggest brewery company is thirsty for your data

Similar to pretty much every other multinational, AB InBev is now focused on data. It acquired brewery group
Weissbeerger only last week, a company that installs measuring equipment in bars. Its slogan, “turning drinks into data”
helps AB InBev to measure how much beer is sold -where and when, which flavours are popular to which type of customers
at a particular bar. “Thanks to Weissbeerger, we can better support our hospitality industry partners and we can tap into
the evolving consumer needs even better”, Chief Disruptive Growth Officer, Perdo Earp told the Washington Post.

AB InBev also bought beer web shop Hopt.be in June 2018, granting it access to beer lovers’ online purchase behaviour.
The beer giant has similar web shops in France and the United Kingdom for instance. It even has a minority stake in
RateBeer, one of the largest beer-reviewing websites. It plans to merge these data companies into Zx Ventures, its very
own innovation lab. Miguel Patricio, currently Chief Marketing Officer, immediately clarifies its goals: “Our customer data
and e-commerce experiences are crucial for our growing company. We can continuously improve our products, because
data gives us an insight into which product type the consumer actually wants.” ‘’Every major company does it. Tech
companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are as large as they are because of it. It is the ideal way to gain insights and
to enter new markets or grow in saturated markets”, UGent professor Erik Mannens told The Washington Post.
Adapted from: Retail Direct: https://www.retaildetail.eu/en/news/food/ab-inbev-quenches-thirst-data-tech-acquisitions

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