E-Malt.com News article: USA: Heineken USA takes its first significant step into the world of Internet marketing

On March 3rd Heineken will take its first significant step into the world of Internet marketing with an “ambush” campaign on leading websites to accompany its biggest beer launch, Financial Times communicated on February 28.

The move, which involved the introduction of Heineken “Premium Light”, is another sign that beer companies, traditionally among the heaviest spenders on television advertising, are increasingly shifting promotional spending to non-traditional media.

This month Anheuser-Busch for the first time provided its television advertisements for the Super Bowl on AOL and Google’s video streaming site, garnering 300,000 downloads of the advertisements since then.

Heineken is spending $50m on the launch of Heineken “Premium Light”, the first time the brewer has produced an extension of the flagship green-bottled Heineken beer and the most it has spent on any launch.

It is aimed at convincing drinkers of 18-29 years of age to “trade up” from mass market light beers, reflecting a trend in the consumer industry towards premium products that carry higher prices. About half of the US beer market is light beers, such as Miller Lite and Bud Light. Heineken believes that young drinkers will be drawn to a “premium” light beer as an alternative to wine and spirits.

The beer is also aimed at restoring sales and earnings in the US, where Heineken’s sales and earnings fell last year because of currency effects and intense competition. Heineken will run “pop up” advertisements on Yahoo, MSN and ESPN and other websites in what Andy Thomas, Heineken USA chief executive, said was “one of the biggest ambushes on the internet”.

The launch of Heineken premium light will, for the rest of this year, add 400,000 hectolitres to Heineken’s estimated full-year volume of 6m hectolitres. The brewer has a roughly 2.5 per cent share of the US beer market. Mr Thomas said the company had decided to launch Heineken premium light after promising tests.


01 March, 2006