CASE STUDY

How Heineken reaches the right commercial talent with VONQ

Heineken partnered with VONQ to reach commercial talent for its sales organisation. Together, they used insights into candidate motivations to build a targeted Recruitment Marketing campaign, helping Heineken look beyond traditional sales profiles and connect with relevant audiences.

Company

Heineken

Industry

Beverages / Brewing

Use Case:

EQO Attract / Recruitment Marketing

“They were able to help us identify the right target audience, the right platforms.”

Kobi Ampoma, Head of Talent at Heineken

Kobi Ampoma
Head of Talent
Heineken

Building a recruitment approach around the talent Heineken needs

CHALLENGES

Reaching the commercial talent behind Heineken’s sales ambitions

Heineken’s reputation attracts interest from candidates, but its sales organisation needed a targeted approach to reaching people with the right commercial potential. Unfilled account manager roles could leave regions without sales coverage and affect revenue, making talent pipelines a clear business priority.

Working with People Business Partners and business leaders, Talent Acquisition identified where those pipelines were needed. The team also saw an opportunity to consider candidates beyond conventional sales backgrounds. Understanding their motivations, reasons for changing jobs and expectations of an employer became essential to reaching them.

SOLUTION

Turning talent insights into a targeted campaign with VONQ

Heineken worked with VONQ to translate its commercial hiring needs into a Recruitment Marketing campaign. Together, the teams explored what motivates commercial talent and which platforms could help Heineken reach those audiences.

This informed a broader search that included people with commercial potential beyond traditional sales experience. Heineken supported this direction with a dedicated sales onboarding programme, helping new colleagues develop the capabilities required for their roles.

VONQ contributed audience and platform expertise, supported conversations with leaders and worked closely with the team throughout the campaign. Insights from women already working at Heineken also helped shape communication for the campaign’s focus on female talent.

Connecting audience insight with commercial hiring priorities

A clearer understanding of candidates

Insights into motivations and career expectations helped Heineken identify relevant commercial profiles.

Channels selected around the audience

VONQ helped identify platforms where Heineken could reach the talent it wanted to attract.

Recruitment connected to business priorities

Talent Acquisition and business leaders worked towards a shared goal of building pipelines for regional sales roles.

RESULTS

Targeted recruitment marketing supporting Heineken’s sales strategy

The campaign with VONQ achieved a 75% conversion rate among female talent, supporting Heineken’s Women in Sales strategy.

The partnership also helped Heineken broaden its search for commercial talent and choose platforms around the candidates it wanted to reach. By connecting audience insights with the needs of the sales organisation, the teams developed a recruitment approach grounded in both candidate motivations and business priorities.

“Working with VONQ has been tremendous because they were able to help us identify the right target audience, the right platforms […] I’m very, very proud of my team, but also proud of the work that VONQ was able to do.”

Kobi Ampoma, Head of Talent at Heineken

Kobi Ampoma
Head of Talent
Heineken

0%

conversion among female talent in the targeted campaign

Broader talent targeting

Commercial potential beyond traditional sales profiles

Audience-led channel selection

Platforms chosen around the talent Heineken wanted to reach

Business-aligned recruitment

Campaign priorities connected to regional sales hiring needs

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