Heineken’s has commenced a World Cup-timed activation in the US that aims to “translate” British sporting vocabulary into terms domestic consumers are familiar with.
The out-of-home marketing activity, which forms part of Heineken’s ‘Summer of Soccer’ marketing campaign, has gone live in World Cup host cities including Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia. The adverts’ locations include streets near fan events and stadiums, and on the New York subway.
Though not an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup (a title secured by rival brewer AB InBev), Heineken has run a series of activations to coincide with the tournament this summer. These include launching ‘Heineken Fan Volunteers’ in May – encouraging consumers to request ‘Volunteer Time Off’ during matches – a ‘Bar Finder’ tool pointing fans to bars showing matches across the US, and a ‘Fan Rescue’ stunt in Boston, when the city’s bars began to run out of beer between the Scotland soccer team’s two matches in the city on 13 and 19 June.
Earlier this month, Heineken also released a limited-edition collaboration six-pack (below) with tomato-sauce brand Heinz – with each box including five Heineken beers and one bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
Last week, Heineken announced the name of its next CEO, five months after predecessor Dolf van den Brink handed in his notice. Rafael Oliveira will start in his new role on 1 October, pending confirmation at a shareholders’ EGM scheduled for 5 August.
