In a strategic turn of events, Heineken is leaving behind the image-focused ‘Legends‘ campaign and instead turning the focus of their new campaign to connect with a global consumer base through a product-focused, ‘more behind the star’ approach.
Granted, the titan of a Dutch brewing company is still clinging on to some of that old campaign charismatic charm by bringing on Academy Award-winning actor Benicio del Toro to infuse some high-caliber humor into the mix. The ads just dropped today, and they’re honestly fantastic. From the first bit with del Toro chillin’ while sippin’ steady from one of the iconic green bottles while being vaguely harassed by selfie-stick wielding millennials to the more straight-laced, down-to-bizness clip featuring Heineken’s Global Craft and Brew Master Mr. van Waesberghe breaking down the series of compelling reasons your next brew should be a Heine.
Heineken’s set to do some heavy spending for this new campaign, which includes six TV ads that will run through 2017, and also five digital films. The campaign’s backed by Heineken’s largest ever reported media investment. Just to give you an idea of how much goddamn money we’re probably talking about here, I’ll drop the fact that the company spent $104.6 million in media for 2014.
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When asked why Heineken’s adopting this new very expensive brand-revamp strategy now, Ralph Rijiks (Senior VP of Marketing at Heineken) said, “I think it’s glaringly obvious that consumers are more and more interested in products, the stories behind them, what’s in them, the ingredients … who’s behind them.” This holds especially true when you consider the for all intents and purposes undeclared battle between craft beer and titan beer companies over high quality, quirky, tastefully humorous, lifestyle-tailored brand messaging.
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Perhaps what resonated with me the most from all this exciting news was when Heineken USA’s Chief Marketing Officer Nuno Teles spoke with powerfully clear simplicity on the underlying reason for telling the company’s story: “Shouldn’t we be talking more about what we are? Because we are the first craft beer in the world, and we should be proud of that,” Mr. Teles said. “And we were the first beer coming after Prohibition to the U.S.”
That’s massive man, and something for sure worth capitalizing on as part of your bigger story as a beer-distributing company eager to share your history with consumers interested enough to learn more about where the liquid gold in the green bottle came from.
[H/T: Ad Age]