Africa: Heineken looking to achieve more brand equity in Africa

Heineken says it has gained more brand equity in Nigeria and is looking to achieve same in 15 other African markets through investments in the brand, The Punch reported on February 8.

The company said it had also increased its share of the beer market following the launch of a new commercial- Villager.

The company said in a statement that was in the process of rolling out the same investment in the other African markets where it has presence.

The 58 seconds commercial, created by Insight Publicis, featured Jidenna Mobisson, the Nigerian-born international act. The commercial is the brand’s first globalised commercial and first Nigerian campaign.

Heineken said it had wanted a commercial to recruit and retain younger drinkers between ages 18 to 24 and regain five per cent of the lapsed drinkers that represent the 25 to 34 age group after recording declining sales last year. But all these were to be done within the brand’s global thematic parameter of internationality, tradition and its natural ingredients.

Speaking on the new move, Sinmisola Hughes-Obisesan, Insight Publicis’ Creative Director, said, “Insight Publicis was tasked with creating a locally relevant thematic campaign for the Heineken brand. We dug deep to search for insights that would resonate and in execution, topped it off with Heineken style wit blended with classic Naija-isms.

“But more importantly, the ad was supposed to highlight the parallels between the world’s most international brand — Heineken and Nigerians.”

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 .