Heineken pumps £8.5m into alcohol-free and premium lager
A significant sum of money is to be pumped into the promotion of Heineken’s 0.0 lager, the biggest ever campaign for alcohol-free beer in the UK, which will see adverts hit TV, cinema, digital, social and the on-trade.
The premise of the alcohol-free marketing is to highlight the relevance of Heineken 0.0 in all moments and social occasions, which might call for beer, but not necessarily alcohol.
A series of three adverts, the first of which was launched during the World Cup, will go live with the strapline Now You Can, and will cover parking, gym activity and work.
Alcohol-free segment
The beer, which was launched in March last year, is the fastest-growing brand in the alcohol-free segment, with sales up 187% between June 2017 and June 2018, CGA & Nielsen rolling MAT data shows.
More than half of the top-10 bottled beers in the UK gaining the most distribution in the past year are alcohol-free, CGA on premise measurement data to May 2018 shows.
“With the growing trend of healthy living, consumers are looking for natural products like beer, but with low or no alcohol,” said Heineken UK brand director Nic Casby.
“We’ve seen phenomenal growth in the low- and no-alcohol category and the Now You Can campaign allows us to communicate all the different drinking occasions where Heineken 0.0 can be enjoyed,” he added.
‘Non-alcoholic beer’
“We have a bold ambition and a great commitment to lead the premium non-alcoholic beer segment and build positive associations around drinking choices – in other words, we want to make alcohol-free beer cool.”
Meanwhile, the brewer will back its Birra Moretti brand with £2.5m of marketing activity to promote the “sociable nature” of the Italian brew.
A TV advert will promote ‘What Matters’ to remind consumers about the things that matter most in life to them.
The brand is the fastest-growing premium beer, with value and volume growth up 69% and 71% respectively.
