Heineken begins F1 sponsorship with largest Australian activation

Arvind Hickman
By Arvind Hickman | 24 March 2017
 
Heineken Lion managing director Andrew Campbell at Heineken House.

Heineken opened its largest Australian activation today at the F1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.

This year the Dutch beer giant is the official beer sponsor of F1 and has created a Heineken Village trackside entertainment precinct that can hold 3,000 people.

The village will feature food trucks, bars, a Birra Moretti activation and live music acts, including MYA on Friday and Rudimental on ‘Heineken Saturday’. There will also be a Heineken House (pictured below) with a VIP area for special guests.

“It's our first year and we really want to make a huge impact with consumers. This is the first time we've done Heineken Saturday on a large scale like this,” Heineken Lion marketing manager Nada Steel tells AdNews.

“From a marketing perspective we really want to drive brand relevance locally. We want to open consumers to a whole world of experiences with the brand because that’s when we find consumers emotionally connect with us and our personality.”

To drive public interest, Heineken has given away F1 tickets to more than 500 people who took part in an interactive experiential out of home campaign in partnership with JCDecaux and Zenith.

Heineken recruited ex-Bachelor contestant Olena Khamula to front the campaign, which used interactive digital panels to ask pedestrians to charm their way into the F1 by impressing Khamula, the 'Heineken doorwoman'.

The Heineken way

 

Heineken sponsors sports events but will never get involved with teams, athletes or action on the field of play. The brand prefers to add to the fan experience at an event with its own experiential activations rather than having a direct involvement in a sporting contest.

Steel says the strategy aims to create memorable experiences to increase brand awareness, sales and positive image statements about how consumers perceive the beer. Heineken will also use the F1 to promote its mid-strength beer Heineken 3.

Launched six months ago, Heineken 3 has grown to a 22% market share in the premium mid-strength category, about half the size of the category’s top selling beer Peroni Leggera and 15% of volume targets. 

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