This document provides an overview of Heineken's digital marketing strategies and campaigns. It discusses Heineken's mission, values, market presence, and SWOT analysis. It then summarizes several of Heineken's notable digital campaigns, including #OpenYourWorld, which promoted open-mindedness, #TheCandidate which found a new intern through an unconventional interview process, and #TheNegotiation which rewarded fans with UEFA tickets. The document also reviews Heineken's social media presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Overall, it analyzes Heineken's successful use of creative campaigns and digital platforms to engage customers worldwide.
2. COMPONENT 1: INTRODUCTION
TO DIGITAL MARKETING
HEINEKEN LAGER BEER
SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. NIDHI PHUTELA
SUBMITTED BY:
SANATAN LOONA
17021021174
(Section – B)
3. SERIAL NUMBER TOPIC SLIDE NUMBER
1 ABOUT THE COMPANY 4
2 MISSION/VISION & VALUES 5
3 MARKET OVERVIEW 6
4 4 P’S 7
5 SWOT ANALYSIS 8
6 DIGITAL PRESENCE 9
7 CAMPAIGNS 11
8
HOW DOES HEINEKEN USES SOCIAL
MEDIA?
30
9 CONCLUSION 34
INDEX
4. ABOUT THE COMPANY
• Heineken Lager Beer or simply Heineken is a pale lager
beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the
Dutch brewing company Heineken International.
Heineken is well known for its signature green bottle
and red star.
• One of the world’s leading brand for
more than 130 years.
• Global network for distributors and 115
breweries in more than 65 countries.
• Heineken Lager Beer was first brewed by
Gerard Adriaan Heineken in 1873
5. MISSION, VISION
& VALUES
• MISSION
To delight consumers, day in day out, with
perfect cider and beer brand experiences!
• VALUES
- Enjoyment: Enjoyment of life is what
we’re about.
- RESPECT: Respect for individuals, society
and the environment.
- PASSION: Passion for quality is at the
heart of everything we do.
• VISION
To be a leading
brewer in each of
the markets in which
we operate and to
have world’s most
valuable brand
portfolio.
6. MARKET OVERVIEW
KEY PLAYERS
• Carlsberg India Pvt. Ltd.
• Mohan Meakin Ltd.
• SABMiller India Ltd.
• United Breweries Ltd.
DRIVERS
• Increase in disposable income
• Increasing young population
• Changing lifestyles
CHALLENGES
• Restrictions on Advertising Alcoholic Beverages
• Heavy taxation on Beer
• Increasing vendor competition
TRENDS
• Growing demand for barley
• Increasing preference for
strong beer.
• Increasing availability of
imported beers
8. STRENGTHS
- Heineken’s leading brand
portfolio includes more than
170 international premium,
regional, local and specialty
beers
- The company has
undertaken various
advertising and promotional
initiatives, which has
improved its brand equity.
- A geographically widespread
plant network reduces
transportation costs as well.
- Excellent branding and top
of the mind recall owing to
advertising and sponsorship
initiatives
WEAKNESS
- Conservative/”Play it safe”
culture
- Struggle to obtain large
breweries
- Not drank by regular beer
drinkers
- Expensive when compared
to other Indian beers.
- Maintaining corporate
values, image and quality
standards in the entire
country is a challenge
OPPORTUNITIES
- Falling trade and
ownership regulations in
India.
- Innovations contribute to
the top-line growth and to
the strength of the
Heineken brand in
particular.
- Increasing beer market
share in global market
- Growing Indian population
- Majority of young
population in India
- Increasing pub culture in
India
THREATS
- Tax regulations in the beer
industry.
- An increasingly negative
perception in society
towards alcohol could
prompt legislators to
restrictive measures.
- Changing buyer taste and
preference.
- Input costs (including
transportation and energy)
have accelerated to
unprecedented levels in
the past few years.
- Heineken has many
operations in mature beer
markets where the
attractiveness of the beer
category is being challenged
by other beverage
categories.
10. DIGITAL PRESENCE
INSTAGRAM
No. of Followers: 413K
No. of Following: 21
No. of Posts: 355
*Verified Account
No. of Subscribers: 490K
*highly active on YouTube with
more than 330 official videos.
11. CAMPAIGNS
Heineken is known for its super creative
advertisements and campaigns.
Heineken keeps launching new
advertisements and campaigns
according to the upcoming famous
events and trends. Heineken major
associations are with UEFA Champions
League, formula racing and etc.
Heineken’s main target has always been
youth.
12. CAMPAIGN – 1
#OpenYourWorld
In April, Heineken released Worlds Apart: a campaign promoting openness and exploring
whether common ground can unite people. The social experiment, documented in a film,
required strangers who had opposing beliefs on topics like feminism and climate change to work
in pairs to complete a menial challenge. Once the participants had completed the challenges, the
brand revealed their opposing opinions and gave them the option to either walk away or stay
and discuss their differences over beer.
Who was the target audience?
“We didn’t do the campaign with a certain target group in mind. Our consumers are very diverse,
so we targeted all of them, really”.
Motive behind the campaign?
Traditionally, most beverage advertisements focused on the fun experiences of the consumers,
social drinking with friends, and even responsible drinking. The Heineken advert was
groundbreaking because it brought in the element that serious political, social, and cultural
topics could be discussed over a beer. Analysts opined that the concept of the advert had been
backed by a well-researched idea called the contact theory which postulated that groups from
different backgrounds can increase tolerance through a meaningful conversation.
13. Reasons behind success of the campaign?
Traditionally, most beverage advertisements focused on the fun experiences of the consumers, social drinking with
friends, and even responsible drinking. The Heineken advert was groundbreaking because it brought in the element
that serious political, social, and cultural topics could be discussed over a beer. Analysts opined that the concept of
the advert had been backed by a well-researched idea called the contact theory which postulated that groups from
different backgrounds can increase tolerance through a meaningful conversation.
• Worlds Apart breaks from traditional alcohol brand promotions to outwardly focus on real issues that matter to
real people. In the context of current events, their message is there’s more that binds us than separates us;
• They are establishing that they have a shared value with their customers that, despite our differences, we should
be able to get along;
• They have established their values in a way that they can own, that is uniquely theirs. Yes, getting together to talk
over a beer isn’t necessarily a ground breaking thought. But to put their brand behind bridging differences the
way they have, particularly in a way that is received well — yeah, they own this (Pepsi, take note);
• Heineken demonstrates that a brand promotion can be cleverly implemented without superficiality and show that
they care;
• They are inserting themselves into the consciousness of consumers in a meaningful way, and in the process,
improve people’s lives while improving the bottom line.
14. Results of the campaign?
The #OpenYourWorld campaign has reached 40 million views across the different social platforms right
now and 91% of all sentiments are positive. In the first three weeks of the campaign Heineken didn’t push
the campaign at all, the sharing was all organic. And still a lot of it is. People’s comments have been very
emotional and touching, so the campaign really resonated with a lot of consumers. There have been
many messages like ‘We should really talk more’, ‘listen more’ and so on, which is exactly the message
that Heineken wanted to bring across.
#OpenYourWorld - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKggA9k8DKw
• The campaign was promoted through Facebook and it went viral with over 138,000 shares and 324,000
engagements. The video received over 17.7 million views, with 3 million happening in just the first eight
days. They captured their message in a hashtag, #OpenYourWorld, which quickly earned 22,000 tweets
that were overwhelmingly positive (87%).
• Heineken got an extra boost in publicity for executing the theme of “coming together despite the
tension” so well after Pepsi failed earlier that same year and were forced to issue an apology. This likely
contributed to the incredible PR they received (over 625 magazine articles published).
17. LEARNING FROM
THIS CAMPAIGN
• If you want to create a viral campaign that builds a positive brand image at the
same time, create content that stirs inspirational emotions in customers.
• This type of content not only triggers thousands and thousands of shares, but it
gets people thinking. It makes them pause and reflect about things that feel
important. It will spark conversations: “Have you seen the new Heineken
commercial? It’s really powerful.”
• And while your brand isn’t the main focus of the thoughts or discussion, it will be
there.
• Tell a Story with Emotional Triggers - Heineken
18. CAMPAIGN – 2
#TheCandidate
What’s the story?
In the search to recruit a new intern, Heineken realized all job interviews involve the same standard
questions with the same prepared answers. In order to distinguish between candidates, they came up
with the first interview one cannot prepare for. Heineken filmed each candidate as they were presented
with unusual situations, and then released the compiled video on social media.
How was the campaign organized?
- During each interview Heineken tested the candidates’ reactions when confronted with the
unexpected: the interviewer holding their hand or fainting, or even having to help rescue employees
during a fi re alarm.
- Heineken employees could vote for their favorite candidate on an internet site.
- The most popular candidate was then invited to the Juventus Stadium to help out in the pre match
event. The whole interview process was shown on the big screen in front of the entire stadium followed
by the announcement that he got the job.
19. Success of the campaign?
The video went viral. Only four days aft er having been published on YouTube in
February 2013, it had 764,000 views. As of the end of November 2013, it has 5.2
million.
What made the campaign popular?
- It took a stressful process that everyone can relate to and made it relevant and
funny.
- As usual, it capitalized on Heineken’s great creative and ‘out of the box’ approach.
- It was successful both as a PR campaign and a recruitment process, two birds
with one stone.
21. CAMPAIGN – 3
#TheNegotiation
What's the story?
As a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, Heineken wanted to engage with fans prior to the
finals. They invited men to go shopping for furniture with their other halves to try to convince
them to buy two expensive, red stadium seats, without telling them about the reward: two
tickets for the UEFA Champions League Final. The ‘negotiations’ were filmed and the video went
viral.
- To put participants’ football passion to the test, the men were offered a deal: convince your
partner to buy two stadium seats and get two tickets to the UEFA Champions League Final.
- A hidden camera was placed in the store, capturing the couples’ discussion about buying the
$1,899 red plastic stadium seats.
- After various fruitless attempts, one persuasive husband finally gets the ok, and is rewarded
with two tickets that were waiting for the winners under the seats.
22. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf1u6s-LQq4
Reasons behind success of the campaign?
- Heineken uses a simple idea that highlights a universal point of contention
between couples, in a highly entertaining way, staying true to their brand.
- Heineken continues to delight through their connection to sport in fun and fresh
ways that appeals to a wide age group.
Success
- The winners got to go to London to enjoy the final at Wembley.
- The video went viral with more than 765,000 views on YouTube.
- Mentions of the campaign were all around social media, including active use of
the hashtag #HNKnegotiati on Twitter.
23. What did Heineken achieved by launching this campaign?
• The campaign made people talk about Heineken’s UEFA Champions League
sponsorship.
• All it took was two shabby stadium seats and a campaign intended for Thailand
and Indonesia.
• 1.5 million views in 3 days, caught whole world’s attention
• 18$ million earned in unpaid media which was 277 times more than the
investment made in making the campaign.
• The campaign was shared by people 137,704 times, which helped it become the
2nd most viral branded film over a 7-days period of time.
24.
25. FEW OTHER RECENT
CAMPAIGNS
Heineken - #GenerationsApart (AN EXPERIMENT)
Motive of the Campaign: Their conversations are challenging long-standing social norms. Their
differences have built invisible barriers. Can a night of good humor break the silence between
fathers sons and daughters and help spark an open conversation between them?
26. FEW OTHER RECENT
CAMPAIGNS
Heineken - #NowYouCan
• Heineken is launching its first alcohol-free campaign across multiple brands as it looks to “explode” the no- and low-alcohol
category.
• The beer giant is hoping its ‘Say Yes’ campaign, which spans Heineken 0.0, Birra Moretti Zero, and Old Mout Alcohol-free, will
raise awareness, change perceptions and kick-start category growth.
• Talking exclusively to Marketing Week, Toby Lancaster, category and shopper marketing director at Heineken UK, says: “This
area of the [drinks market] is increasing dramatically. We just have to do some simple things around our communication
strategy, in-store and on-trade visibility to help really explode the category.”
• Heineken is looking to grow the category in three phases: firstly, overcoming taste and legacy issues; secondly, working with
on- and off-trade to stock the range and increase visibility; and thirdly to educate consumers and increase those who trial it.
• Lancaster explains: “It’s a really exciting campaign. We are the first to go at scale with 0.0 and advertising like this. There have
been a few bit and pieces before but this is a through-the-line, big scale investment that we are putting in the market to really
kick-start the brands.”
• Through the campaign, Heineken wants to demonstrate the range of alcohol-free options it offers and the role they can play in
people’s lives.
• It is hoping to promote its alcohol-free range as an enabler of a positive lifestyle, with people enjoying low-alcohol alternatives
at events such as mid-week dinner parties, lunchtime beers at work or Sunday afternoon hangouts.
28. HOW DOES HEINEKEN
USES SOCIAL MEDIA?
FACEBOOK:
Heineken’s most popular social media platform is Facebook, with an impressive number of over 20 million Likes. To give you a
broader picture of the world’s brewing scene, here are other top market players’ Facebook figures:
• Budweiser – 13.4 million likes
• Stella Artois – 7.8 million likes
• Guinness – 5.5 million likes
• Carlsberg – 2.4 million likes
Heineken leads this queue. No doubt.
An important fact to mention is that Heineken has optimized the Facebook Page with geo-targeting. This mean they serve
content specific to their public’s location. The regional Fan Pages are aggregated, though, so the general Likes count sums up to
one impressive result.
Heineken’s Facebook strategy is aimed primarily to deliver relevant content that entertains and engages their Fans who are
mainly, but not exclusively, football lovers. Almost like a coach speaking to players before a football game, they want
to ignite their Fans’ enthusiasm and encourage them to take decisive actions – shares, comments, likes. It is a very elegant and
clever strategy as it does sell beer without even mentioning the sale itself.
29.
30. HOW DOES HEINEKEN
USES SOCIAL MEDIA?
TWITTER
On Twitter, Heineken runs multiple regional accounts, but the main ones are @Heineken with over 137K Followers and
@HEINEKENCorp that shares company’s strategy updates and promotes other family’s brands.
• Unlike Facebook content strategy that builds partly on brand’s heritage and partly on music and football-related
news, Twitter content focuses strongly on the football side of the business (at least now, during the Champions
League). A properly thought through idea, in my opinion, as the fast Twitter feed filled with the immensity of football-
related news, enables to imitate the emotions of a sportscaster reporting on the most exciting football game you have
ever seen!
• The content they share on Twitter is a combination of high-quality sports-based memes, videos and text updates. They
keep a good ratio of text vs. visual tweets that receive not massive but a regular number of likes and retweets. They
often use their Staff’s initials to indicate who created a particular tweet and make it more personal.
• Heineken on Twitter acts like a high-class football player, they keep the level of the game high with the professionally
designed content but also enjoy the team spirit and invite their Fans to participate in a very conversational dialogue.
The language is unofficial and filled with football-related terms. Everyone can ask a question here and call the brand by
the “first name”. In a way, when you enter Heineken’s Twitter account you feel like joining a group of lads sitting in a pub
and commenting on the game with a nicely chilled pint of beer, no other than Heineken beer of course.
31.
32. HOW DOES HEINEKEN
USES SOCIAL MEDIA?
INSTAGRAM
• Similar to Twitter, Heineken on Instagram has multiple regional accounts. The main one (@Heineken) has over 156K
Followers. Quite a nice Followers count has the Brazilian one (@Heineken Brazil) with 81.2K Likes, ahead of the U.S. one
(@Heineken US) with 22.8K Followers. However, they aren’t quite as active here as they are on other social platforms
with the last post being created 26 weeks ago.
• Unlike Facebook and Twitter pages, Heineken has given their Instagram account a completely different, more personal
and perhaps more humanized touch. On a very rare occasion you will see the signature green bottle being featured
here, instead, their Instagram account is more like a mood board that reveals the brand’s wider context.
• Heineken’s Instagram profile is aimed to transmit different aspects of brand’s unique personality and story that often
become authentic people’s stories – the Heineken’s drinkers stories. For example, the #HeadingOutWith campaign, a
part of the bigger “Fans of the World” initiative, is widely featured on Instagram. It promotes User-Generated Content
and presents profiles of different, sometimes unusual, social circles celebrating weekends.
• Similar to Facebook and Twitter, Heineken’s approach to content on Instagram targets millennials who “would rather tell
people about something they have done than about something they have got”. Rather than pushing the sale, they post
photos and videos to tell stories and make people relate to and engage. However, they seem not to interact with their
Fans on Instagram too often, as some of the Followers’ questions are being lefts unattended.
33.
34. CONCLUSION
• Overall, Heineken knows how to do social media. I like the fact that they produce new and
fresh content for each platform but keep it within a clear and very consistent brand message. I
absolutely love that, as a global brand, they do adapt the content to the cultural contexts
making it even more relevant for the audience. One area that I feel they could improve a bit,
though, is their Instagram engagement both in a sense of more frequent publications as well as
stronger interaction with their Fans.
• What makes Heineken’s social media strategy successful?
Over-average understanding of the average Heineken’s drinker. They know what his/her
language, habits and sense of humor is, and therefore there is no need to push the sale. It is
enough to strengthen the relations giving their Fans amazing EXPERIENCE they are more than
keen to share on social media
