Promotional Features
Join the £16M lighter-tasting lager opportunity with Heineken® Silver
A combination of wider consumer interest in the light lager category, alongside a demand for premium, is providing outlets with the opportunity to bolster both value and volume sales. Heineken Silver®, the recently launched premium light lager, taps not only into the increasing appetite for lighter tasting lagers, but also speaks to the consumer need for brands that are more premium; a vital trend for operators to capitalise on to grow revenue.
The premium, craft and continental lager categories have grown value and volume sales in recent years as consumers look to brands that will deliver on taste and experience. However, there remains an opportunity within the growing light lager category to premiumise1 and boost value sales. Light lagers are typically under-priced on the bar, driven by the category’s former lack of a premium offering. For example, 19,000 premium outlets offer a light lager but typically stockists price these brands at just 5p more than their cheapest pint2. By switching from a classic light lager to Heineken Silver®, individual pubs can look to earn an additional £6,100 per year on average3.
Heineken Silver® is recognised in the top five beers, wines and spirits launches of the decade4 and secured over 3,500 draught distribution points within its first year5, as pub operators understood the value of the brand on their bars. Such is the value of Heineken® Silver® that it drove 85% of light lager growth last year.6
Backing a winning brand
To help drive more consumers into pubs and bars this year, HEINEKEN UK is supporting Heineken Silver® with an £11M marketing spend, matching the 2022 launch investment, to continue raising the brand’s profile among drinkers.
An all-new multichannel campaign launches this Spring to showcase the brand’s key credentials, including its smooth taste and low bitterness at 4% ABV. In addition, a national sampling campaign will kick off for the second year, ensuring as much of the nation as possible has a chance to try the brand.
Heineken Silver® is aiming to attract thousands of consumers into hundreds of pubs and bars across England with one of the company’s biggest free pint giveaway promotions. The promotion will see the brewer aim to boost pub sales by giving away up to 80,000 free pints through participating venues throughout May, refunded directly at full retail price every week. Find out how you can get involved here.
But this emerging segment doesn’t just present an opportunity to grow sales from existing on-trade consumers. It also has the power to attract a new group of adult drinkers. Half of Gen Y and Z consumers (18-34-year-olds) drink beer in a pub or bar, of which 25% claim that they had planned to drink more beer in pubs last year than they did7, as outlined in the Heineken® Beer Report 2022. So, brands that connect with these generations will help attract them into outlet. The Beer Report also shows that younger drinkers are seeking out lighter-tasting, sessionable options and within the first year of launch, Heineken Silver® is more successfully recruiting this younger generation of drinkers vs other new lager launches8.
As such, there is a £16M opportunity within premium light lager as a younger generation of drinker seeks a beverage that fits these changing needs, specifically around lighter and more accessible flavours. The Generation Y and Z consumer may be less engaged with beer versus previous generations, but Heineken Silver® is recruiting them back into the category with a product that meets their needs.
The Golden sales opportunity within Heineken® Silver
• Innovative launch – In the Top 5 BWS launches of the decade9
• Premiumising the category – Trading up from existing light lager could earn an outlet +£6.1K per year on average10
• Growing the category - Delivered 85% of light lager value growth in 2022.11
• Driving value – 45% of spend is incremental to the beer category12
• Recruiting more drinkers into the brand – 72% of penetration is incremental to the brand13
Pubs ready to attract a new customer base and to boost lager sales should sign up to the Heineken Silver® free pint giveaway. Find out more here
[1] CGA RSP Dec 22 & CGA OPMS November 2022
[2] CGA RSP Dec 22 & CGA OPMS November 2022
[3] RSP Draught Light Lager & Draught Heineken Silver. Vol RoS of Draught Light Lager. 01.23
[4] CGA OPMS Data from 19.05.2007, value sales
[5] Innserve Data. Dec 23.
[6] CGA Value Growth 12.01.23
[7] KAM Media Beer Drinking Habits January 2022
[8] Kantar, Alcovision, Sept 22
[9] CGA OPMS Data from 19.05.2007, value sales
[10] RSP Draught Light Lager & Draught Heineken Silver. Vol RoS of Draught Light Lager. 01.23
[12] Kantar Purchase Panel | 52 w/e 19 February 2023 | Total Beer
[13] Kantar Purchase Panel. 52 w/e 25 Dec 2022. Total Beer
