photo by steed media service

African American Market Manager/Retail Sales Manager, Heineken-Chicago

Reginald King knows beer. He has worked for several beer companies, but at Heineken, King found a corporate home with goals that meshed perfectly with his personal philosophy of serving the community. King is Heineken's African American market manager and retail sales manager for Chicago. His main objective is to reach out to the community through the Heineken brand.

"Heineken has always been a popular brand within the African American market. When you see the green bottle, you know it's something special - it's a very interesting brand," says King.

According to Heineken.com, the company sold 22.4 100 million liters of beer worldwide in 2001, and sales have continued to increase each year. With this success, it's important for the company to reach out to the community.

"We are all about the community. You can look at some of the things we've done and look at some of the artists [who have performed in Heineken's Red Star Soul concert series]. We get no-name artists and we get artist with big names. We are in every major African American magazine. Whether he's a rap artist, singer or someone doing something at 'Showtime at the Apollo,' we want to be a part of it because as African Americans we are unique and so is this brand," says King.

This year's seven-city concert tour, which kicks off in Los Angeles in mid-August and closes in New York on Oct. 23, will feature Erykah Badu, Raphael Saadiq, Common and Alicia Keys.

"Red Star Soul has been put together to bring out the uniqueness of African Americans; it's a celebration of what we do." - adrienne gadling

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