Plum job: Top brass at SA Breweries was once jobless and played the horn

Vaughan Croeser once whiled away his time playing the trumpet at the Barnyard Theatre, Gauteng’s premier live music venue, after graduating with an honours degree in marketing from the University of Pretoria.

He was unemployed and could not find a job. But little did the Benoni-born musician know that 20 years later, he would land the plum job of vice-president of marketing at South African Breweries (SAB), known as the home of the best beers in South Africa.

Although the trained music aficionado with a background in classical music was inspired by American jazz legend and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, he mostly performed 1980s pop music.

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“That was my first job: leather pants and trumpets. It was part of my journey, which was a bit stressful but fun,” he recalls. With a string of accolades and hard-earned awards, manna did not fall from heaven for Croeser.

Having risen through the ranks to the top required hard work and dedication. He started his career at SAB as a sales representative at a sales depot in the industrial town of Isando, east of Johannesburg.

Shortly afterwards, he became sales manager for the townships of Katlehong, Thokoza, Vosloorus and Spruitview on the East Rand.

He relocated to Cape Town to become regional trade marketing manager and later returned to Johannesburg to work on the Castle Lite brand. While Croeser, 43, made strides during his 10 years in sales, he admits he was “not very keen to work in the sales department in the beginning”.

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“I believed I was more suited to work in the marketing department,” he says. “However, spending 10 years at the coalface of the company, where our product is sold daily, was very foundational for my development.

“I learnt the basics of how people interact with our product and what brands need to do to get traction in the market. “I cherish those years in sales as they helped me to guide the brand teams on what is practical and how they can think about executing their brands in the market,” he adds.

In a country with a high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) and high road carnage – both mainly attributable to excessive alcohol consumption – Croeser is acutely aware ofhe immense responsibility that vests with SAB in marketing its products in a responsible manner.

Championing a campaign and fostering responsible alcohol consumption has become one of the key drivers of the company’s business strategy.

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“It is for this reason that our commitment to societal programmes is unwavering.

“We do not shirk from our responsibility of educating our customers about responsible drinking and supporting worthy initiatives that seek to address some of the social ills facing our communities,” says Croeser.

“For example, Carling Black Label has been running a campaign called #NoExcuse, which seeks to address perceptions on GBV by teaching men to live with powerfully positive masculinity and stand against any form of abuse. This campaign has been running for seven years.

“We also have a programme called SAB Sharp where we seek to curtail irresponsible and excessive alcohol consumption by working with retailers and tavern owners. We encourage them to trade responsibly by not serving alcohol to underage and intoxicated customers,” he adds.

“This multipronged campaign is meant to create a safer environments for customers.”

SAB has forged a partnership with law enforcement agencies in the Alcohol Evidence Centre campaign “where we fund mobile units that are equipped with all the necessary gadgets which are deployed at manned roadblocks in all provinces”.

“Kitted with equipment, the units have been enabled police to successfully secure prosecution in instances of drunk driving,” says Croeser.

“Due to the deployment of these mobile units, law enforcement agencies have managed to make 7 760 arrests to date.

“While there is a lot we are doing, there remains an opportunity to do a lot more.”

Reflecting on his long career at SAB, Croeser remembers the 2010 Fifa World Cup as “the highlight and a proud moment that infused me with pride as a South African”.

“It was exhilarating to witness our capability as a country to host an event of such magnitude, which emboldened us, that we can achieve anything.

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“We showed a real sense of unity and the event filled us with a renewed sense of optimism,” he adds. Croeser’s biggest challenge was government’s alcohol sales ban imposed during Covid.

“Seeing the impact the alcohol sales ban had on our retailers and tavern owners was devastating,” he recalls.

“Nonetheless, we learnt more from this experience about resilience and how to leverage our technology to do good.

“We produced sanitisers in our breweries, supported tavern owners and restaurateurs, while they could not trade. Instead, they used our brand to encourage social distancing.

“Amid all the devastation, it was also a moment to learn a lot about what we are capable of and what kind of company we want to be in the future.

“Out of this difficulty, we took a lot of positives and maintained strong relationships with multiple stakeholders in South Africa,” adds Croeser.