UK: Heineken reveals continental marketing campaign details

Heineken UK announced full details of its new multi-million pound marketing campaign which positions Heineken as the premium, continental beer, and aims to provide consumers with more authentic, continental-style drinking experiences, according to company’s press release, June 4.

This June, Heineken UK will begin to implement its plans to reinvigorate the beer category and drive sales of premium lager, by rolling out a series of new initiatives and innovations which champion continental drinking experiences.

“Despite overall drinking being up, the beer market in the UK is in decline, so as an industry we must develop and innovate, to connect and re-engage with consumers.

With our new campaign we're targeting successful, well travelled, male urbanites who, like a growing number of consumers, are seeking out more authentic and individual brands and experiences,” said Iain Newell, Marketing Director, Heineken UK.

Central to Heineken's new campaign in the on-trade is the launch of 'Continental Draught' which will offer UK consumers the chance to enjoy premium Heineken as it is served on the continent, with an authentic 2 finger-width head.

Taste is a key driver of brand choice. However as much as 40% of what we call 'taste' is actually hop aroma, a very volatile flavour which evaporates quickly when in contact with air. On the continent, the Continental Draught serve with its large foam head is considered the only way to enjoy draught beer.

This is because the head acts as a seal, protecting the beer from the air and trapping in the real lager aroma and carbon dioxide bubbles. Therefore a large head prevents the flavour and freshness from escaping and delivers a quality drinking experience right down to the last sip.

“With the roll-out of Heineken Continental Draught in UK pubs and bars, we're offering consumers the chance to enjoy an even more premium, aspirational, beer drinking experience. By combining the latest dispense technology, and the brand's heritage and experience as the biggest beer in Europe, we can provide our customers with real point of difference and standout,” Iain Newell, Marketing Director, Heineken UK

In the off-trade, Heineken is launching the innovative DraughtKeg – a unique stand-alone 5-litre draught beer system that allows consumers to enjoy quality draught beer anytime, anywhere. A unique product innovation, which is ideal for parties, barbecues and picnics or whenever friends come together to celebrate and have fun, DraughtKeg is already a massive success in over 40 other countries, with over 6 million units sold since 2005.

“The launch of DraughtKeg will help consumers to enjoy a different type of draught experience, draught beer wherever they are, Iain said.” “The off-trade has been waiting for years for an innovation which can deliver new drinking experiences for consumers and with its cutting-edge technology, and interactive dispense, DraughtKeg is a category-leading innovation representing a real break-through in the beer market.”

To introduce British drinkers to the continental style of drinking, Heineken UK is running an experiential programme. Café Heineken, a 400-capacity continental bar which was launched at the Heineken Cup Final at Twickenham last month, will tour the UK this summer.

Café Heineken has been developed to echo the café-culture style of Modern European cities, with branded umbrellas and street lighting. The mobile café offers consumers the chance to enjoy beer from one of two Heineken bars, with table service and continental style food, whilst listening to a continental DJ.

The new campaign will be supported by a multi-million pound TV, cinema, online and poster campaign as well as PR activity, which will drive awareness of Heineken's new positioning and the initiatives. On TV from 6th June, the heavyweight media campaign questions British attitudes to activities considered normal on the continent, and challenges consumers to think with their 'continental head'.

The TV execution features a couple having a romantic meal in a smart restaurant on the Continent. The waiter presents the man with a live lobster from the tank to be cooked for dinner. The man looks shamefully at the lobster and feels guilty about eating it. Another waiter arrives with a glass of Heineken with a generous foamy, Continental head and the man is given some breathing space to think. The voiceover, encourages him to 'use his Continental head' and imagine the lobster has done him a terrible wrong.

We switch to an imaginary sequence where the man arrives home early to find the lobster in a compromising situation with his wife. We cut back to the restaurant to see that the man has overcome his discomfort and looks forward to eating the lobster. The spot ends with the voiceover 'Heineken - get your head right and the rest will follow'. The endline appears on screen: 'Heineken. Premium Continental Bier.'

Iain concluded: “We're incredibly excited to be rolling-out our new campaign which offers consumers the chance to enjoy better, continental-style drinking experiences. As a genuinely imported premium beer, and the number one brewer in Europe, we're in a unique position to offer truly authentic continental drinking experiences.”

“With the launch of our new media campaign, the roll-out of Continental Draught, the Draught Keg and our experiential programme, we're not only offering consumers the authentic experiences they are seeking, but we're working hard to improve the image of beer and driving incremental growth in the premium lager sector.”

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .