Ex | On-ground and online is the best match; UBL's Samar Singh Sheikhawat

A proud, independent global brewery committed to surprise and excite consumers everywhere, what essentially marks out Heineken is its four key attributes. The company is the first and only truly global beer brand, enjoyed in 178 countries around the world; a unique, worldwide footprint with operations in 71 countries, ensuring a broader reach for the brands more than any other brewery; an internationally diverse, dynamic, committed and entrepreneurial team of around 70,000 employees; and the passion of the Heineken family remains as strong today as it was in 1864 when it first started brewing beer.

Recently marking its association with UEFA Champions League, Heineken has announced the ‘Heineken Social Reporter’ – who will fly to London to enjoy the Heineken Experience and report on the UEFA Champions League Final for the Heineken social media channels in India. The winner, Akhil Shah from Mumbai was selected from over 400 applicants that were received on the brand’s Facebook App. The applicants went through a three-stage selection process both online and offline, that assessed their football knowledge and passion, apart from other softer attributes and personality traits.

Leveraging its global sponsorship with the UEFA Champions League (UCL), as it does so for the first time in India, the company has come up with a Global Campaign titled ‘The Road To The Final’ through which Heineken in India is activating the campaign via digital and on the ground channels.

Speaking to Adgully about the association with UCL,  Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, United Breweries said, “Creativity, spontaneity and wit are the core values of Heineken® and this campaign, which kicks off our UCL activation in India, captures these values in large doses. Recognizing the power of digital and social media in India, this campaign will run almost entirely on digital. We expect this initiative and our overall activation plans to give Heineken a salience boost, and connect with young urban consumers in the key consumption months of the warm Indian summer.”

Adding further he said, “The core focus of Heineken’s activation of the sponsorship is to bring fans in Europe and around the world high quality UCL experiences which is the most prestigious club platform for international football stars and their clubs. Internationally we have managed to maintain that craze alive but we wanted to create that buzz in India too and from this year onwards this will be one of biggest marketing activations in India too.”

On asked about the benefits, Sheikhawat said, “This is one of our global assets and Heineken and sports has been quite synonymous and the fit is really an amazing fun. So obviously when the values of UCL and Heineken that is being young, courageous and sporty are matching each other then the brand would achieve success with this association.”  

Heineken has been able to manage its presence felt in more than 250 countries. Elaborating on this point Sheikhawat said, “Wherever you are in the world, you are able to enjoy one of our brands. We own, market and sell more than 250 of them. Our principal global brand is Heineken, the world’s most valuable international premium beer brand. I think what makes us so popular are our strong strategies and the kind of distribution platforms we use. Also over the years consumers have loved our brand.”

Heineken has four major activation platforms. The first is UCL, then it is associated with Rugby World Club that happens in every four years in some countries. The brand has been associated with ‘James Bond’ franchise for more than 15 years now and the recent one was ‘Skyfall’, including the entire 360 promotions and marketing. Lastly the brand has an association with music since a long time including various form and sizes like Star World music tour, Heineken Green room etc.

The brand seems quite upfront when it comes to marketing so when asked how digital plays an important role, Sheikhawat said, “For Heineken target audience plays a vital role, nowadays digital is becoming a really fundamental medium in the fields of marketing and advertising. Digital is a lead medium these days. Heineken is one of the largest premium beer brands on Facebook though its age gated which means one has to be of 25 years to be a fan.”

Elaborating his point further, he explained, “Heineken has been really active on digital and social media. If you see the entire process of ‘Heineken Social Reporter’ happened on Face book from resumes to selection.

On digital, the first initiative was ‘The Candidate’ video which went viral and has received close to 4 million views worldwide. ‘The Social Reporter’ campaign was, in fact, a follow up to this video campaign.  The brand also unveiled ‘The Road to the Final’ ad, which features a lucky football fan, who receives a ticket to the UCL Final.

The only problem is that he is on the other side of the world and faces a race against the clock to get to the match. Through a combination of resourcefulness, imagination and inventiveness he manages to overcome every obstacle in his way – to be rewarded with the ultimate football experience – a pitch side seat at Wembley, arriving just before kick-off. This ad will be exposed via digital channels and social media in India, and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/user/heineken.The brand’s Facebook fans can also play the highly addictive and social pinball game inspired by elements of the new ad.  

On-ground, across bars and beer shops around the country, Heineken has introduced ‘The Road to the Final’ promotion – where consumers can win Heineken merchandize and yet another chance to win a ticket to the big final. He believes the combination on-ground and online fits the best.

The brand has been quite well perceived internationally and in India. Speaking about the response that Indian market has given, Sheikhawat said, “The response has been phenomenal and encouraging. We have almost doubled the volumes in this one-and-half years.” Acquiring 50 per cent share in the market, Heineken has grown really well whether it’s India or any other country for that matter. The brand is 105 years old and is perceived really strongly. India is the 48th market and apart from that Netherlands, France and Vietnam have been really helpful and successful for the brand.

Other international premium, regional, local and specialty beers include Amstel, Birra Moretti, Cruzcampo, Desperados, Dos Equis, Foster’s, Newcastle Brown Ale, Ochota, Primus, Sagres, Sol, Star, Tecate, Zlaty Bazant and Zywiec. The company’s leading joint venture brands include Anchor, Cristal, Kingfisher and Tiger. In addition to global portfolio, Heinken is also the world’s biggest cider maker with brands such as Strongbow Gold® and Bulmer’