Heineken’s big sports play for the light beer market

This year, Heineken has been making a push into the light beer space, and is using Formula One, tennis, and music festivals to do it.

In March, just days before the beer market would be shaken by Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, Heineken debuted Heineken Silver—a lower-carb, lower-calorie premium beer—in the US to help the world’s second-largest beer company gain a foothold in the US light beer market.

While Heineken reported a tough second quarter last week, with a 5.6% drop in volume, CEO Dolf van den Brink said on its earnings call that Silver had grown its volume by 45%, and in the US is seeing “encouraging early results in distribution build-up and rate of sale.” He also said the company has “significantly” boosted US marketing spend to build on “the momentum that we’re now gaining” on Silver.

Part of that marketing strategy is introducing the product through new and existing event partnerships, Frank Amorese, VP of media and partnerships at Heineken USA, told Retail Brew. He said the brewer made the decision before the product debuted to do the “full changeover” to lead with Heineken Silver and introduce the product to new and existing customers.

That includes both longstanding partnerships, like music festival Coachella and this month’s US Open Tennis Championships, and a newer focus in the US, Formula One, capitalizing on the rising stateside interest in the sport, Amorese said, in the hope of giving fans an experience (and, of course, a beer) they’ll never forget.

Formula for success: Amorese has been with Heineken USA for 11 years, leading the media team from 2012 until 2016, when the company decided to join its media and partnership teams together, giving them a “larger, full consumer experience perspective.” That consumer perspective will help as the brewer works to tie Silver into pop culture and sporting events that draw hundreds of thousands of consumers.

With Formula One, Heineken has sponsored the race in Miami this year, with an Austin race to come in October, and, most notably, it’ll be the title sponsor at the first-ever Formula One Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix being held in November.

It’s using those partnerships as Silver sampling opportunities, giving consumers a unique experience while introducing them to the new product. For example, Heineken had a viewing deck at the Miami race in May that Amorese said was the closest attendees could get to the action with a general admission ticket.

“We really want to make that sort of indelible mark, an imprint on people’s hearts and minds,” he said. “People tend to remember what they were drinking in these amazing moments.”

For partnerships—Amorese said Heineken has tried not to use the term “sponsorship”—the brewer does a “brand DNA check” to creatively approach the experience with the aim to “do something that neither could do on their own in the ultimate benefit of the fan.” It’s important to strike a balance between Heineken’s presence and the event itself.

“You don’t want to feel like you’re walking into a completely branded experience because that will turn the fan off,” he said. “But also, at the same time, you have to have enough branding and experience to make sure that the takeaway for the fan is still Heineken.”

Drink to that: Thus far, Amorese said the new light beer is “fulfilling a need” at these events. It’s helping the company bring in a new group of beer drinkers looking for a lighter option and fit into different use occasions for current Heineken consumers, especially during the hot summer months. “It just gives us even more versatility for the beer-drinking public,” he said.

The beer-drinking public’s preferences have changed significantly this year, as conservative backlash from Bud Light’s work with Dylan Mulvaney has led the light beer brand to be dethroned from the top US spot amid dipping sales, opening up potential opportunities in the light beer space. Last week, van den Brink shared his take on the marketing controversy with CNBC.

“You have to be thoughtful, you have to be balanced. And at the same time, you need to stand for your values and your principles,” he said. “So far, I’m proud of how our brand teams across our operating companies are navigating this new world.”

While Amorese said he wouldn’t comment on competitors, he believes that Heineken Silver’s “proposition has stayed the same” since the beer market’s upheaval.

“Nothing has really changed from why we launched it to now and our tactics around it,” he said.