Case Study: Potent PR Brew Drives Buzz and Awareness Around Launch of Heineken’s ‘In-Home’ Pouring Product

Company: Heineken USA

Agency: MS&L

Timeframe: January - June 2008

Along with baseball, drinking beer is one of America’s great pastimes. The U.S. beer category is a $91.6 billion industry, accounting for 52% of the share of total beverage alcohol retail dollar sales and 85% of total beverage alcohol consumption in gallons, says the American Beverage Association.

However, the good times started to change in the mid-2000s, as consumers began drinking more wine and clear spirits (vodka, gin and the like). In the last four years, overall total beer volume has been either flat or declining. In fact, imported beer sales were down 9.8% in 2009, equating to a loss of 2.8 million barrels.

To Heineken, the largest European beer importer, those numbers were disturbing. Heineken commands more than 4% of the total suds volume with its flagship Heineken lager. For 100 years, the company has pushed out the message of providing consumers with high-quality product and brand authenticity. In 2006, innovation entered the equation, as Heineken USA, with help from its PR agency of record, MS&L, launched Heineken Premium Light, the brewery’s first new product extension in the company’s 100-year history. The Light launch was quickly followed by the rollout of Heineken DraughtKeg, featuring a patented carbonator pressure technology that is claimed to offer “the only true” home draught experience, keeping the brew fresh for 30 days.

Meanwhile, as the world economy began to sink, MS&L found that consumers were spending 20% less time in bars and restaurants, and more time at home. With the goal of addressing those changing consumer habits and declining sales, Heineken looked to make its product more available in the home, while still maintaining its “from the tap” experience (see graphic on opposite page for findings that helped spur this “home invasion”).

“Entertaining at home had emerged as a national trend, and we had to capitalize on that,” says Shane Hoyne, senior brand director of Heineken Lager. “Consumers were moving from going out with friends to entertaining at home.”

Enter the BeerTender. Partnering with Krups, the coffee machine and small appliance maker, Heineken developed a $299 device that lets the user act like a professional bartender—chilling and pouring a “perfect” (says the marketing materials) Heineken every time.

But the BeerTender was just one part of the equation—selling Heineken DraughtKegs was the other part. The BeerTender only works with the DraughtKegs, so the more BeerTenders sold, the more DraughtKegs go out the door, and vice versa.

CHALLENGES BREWING

There were considerable challenges to overcome in offering the device. One was its relatively high price point. “We had to have a laser-like approach to the demographic that would want to have BeerTender in their homes,” says Hoyne. Another challenge was the exclusivity of the device with the DraughtKegs—ultimately two products would have to be sold. And finally, PR would be the sole support of the effort from January until June 2008—with no assistance from marketing. “It was our responsibility to get the market ready, build excitement and help drive early sales,” says Mandy O’Donnell, SVP at MS&L.

Ultimately, though, the biggest challenge was introducing a product that was foreign to anything U.S. consumers had ever seen. “At the time, there simply was not a significant in-home draught beer experience or category that consumers were familiar with,” says Hoyne.

The Heineken and MS&L teams then strategized on the upcoming effort, setting the following goals:

• Position Heineken BeerTender as the first and ultimate in-home “draught beer” experience.

• Create an intersection between BeerTender and holidays or special occasions.

• Successfully show consumers how they can have and share the BeerTender experience at home.

• Highlight the “connoisseurship” that accompanies owning the device.

• Identify new channels and media for delivery of message and product.

The teams then hashed out the following performance objectives for the campaign:

• Generate 250 million media impressions across print, broadcast and online channels.

• Secure two business exclusives: 1) announcement of BeerTender introduction in U.S. marketplace and 2) launch story on BeerTender ad campaign in June.

• Secure national morning show placement during key purchasing time leading up to Father’s Day.

• Secure placement in digital channels: influential lifestyle, tech, beer/beverage, trade bloggers, and food and beverage-oriented Web sites were targeted.

SUDS STRATEGIES

To deliver the BeerTender messages, MS&L need to build buzz that would crescendo with the ad campaign (for details on this, see sidebar on opposite page). “We developed a strategic approach that systematically built consumer awareness and generated massive media coverage,” says O’Donnell. The key strategic actions included:

1. Leverage BeerTender with agenda-setting consumer media—allow them to experience the product’s features firsthand.

2. Capitalize on key occasions (Father’s Day, graduation, birthdays and holidays) and the poor economy (more time spent at home).

3. Utilize celebrity seeding to make BeerTender a must-have.

4. Use innovation (first true draught, at-home experience) and authenticity to reach new media, national TV, print and online—and reach women who are buying for men through the channels that they identify with: national TV women’s magazines and entertainment media outlets.

CAMPAIGN EXECUTION

▶ Initial introduction: MS&L chose an interesting venue for a “sneak peak” of BeerTender: the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in January 2008 in Las Vegas. “We capitalized on a large number of influential consumer electronics journalists and bloggers, introducing the product in an arena where beverage and alcohol brands do not usually play,” says O’Donnell. In addition, leveraging the Kentucky Derby’s high-income audience, BeerTender was placed in all 80 luxury boxes at Churchill Downs.

▶ Drive Special Occasions: Recognizing that Father’s Day could be a major purchasing time for BeerTender, the MS&L team focused their media relations efforts around this holiday. In January, MS&L, coordinated one-on-one desk-side demos of the product with Heineken’s brand manager and magazine editors, with a target run-date for coverage in May/June issues—in time for Father’s Day.

▶ Target new channels: To keep the momentum, MS&L conducted intense media outreach to the top 100 newspapers in the U.S., and positioned BeerTender as a feature item for news about summer entertaining, new product reviews and Father’s Day stories. A mailer was sent to the news media shaped like a BeerTender, complete with mini-DraughtKeg cutout inside.

▶ Digital media outreach: MS&L conducted one-on-one meetings with influential lifestyle, tech, beer/beverage and trade bloggers. In addition, MS&L sent an instructional “Perfect Pour” DVD along with a press kit to influential bloggers they were unable to meet with in person. Some blogs that were briefed: UrbanDaddy, Crunch Gear, Martini Lounge and 1000 Bars.

▶ Celebrity seeding: MS&L received public feedback on the device from Jon Stewart, George Lopez and Tom Hanks. The product was also made available to stars who visited gifting suites at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and the Academy Awards. To further leverage the celebrity angle, the agency secured coverage in entertainment outlets like InTouch, People and Star.

â–¶ Landing Exclusives: Leading up to the BeerTender launch, MS&L secured an exclusive on BusinessWeek.com and, just prior to the launch of their advertising campaign, secured a campaign exclusive in Ad Age.

HOPPING SUCCESS

To date, MS&L has generated more than 329 million media impressions in outlets such as The Today Show and the Early Show for broadcast; and Redbook, Popular Mechanics, Men’s Fitness and Wired, to name a few print publications.

All told, more than 430 instances of coverage have been recorded to date across broadcast, Internet and print outlets.

While Heineken won’t reveal specific sales figures, Hoyne says he’s more than satisfied with the results. In addition, Hoyne says the company learned valuable lessons around the launch of a unique product and the positioning the device in non-beer channels. “As an innovative countertop appliance, BeerTender gave us a major presence at different retail outlets where previously we had been unable to play,” says Hoyne. In addition, Heineken USA learned that its brand aligned well with another premium European brand, Krups.

MS&L, says O’Donnell, had three to four team members working on the BeerTender campaign, with their dedicated time varying from 25% to 50%. And MS&L continues work to support BeerTender as part of Heineken’s overall PR program. The agency has recently collaborated with the company in support of the Tribeca Film Festival, Critics’ Choice Awards and the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour (soccer). PRN

CONTACT:

Shane Hoyne, heinekenusa.com; Mandy O’Donnell, [email protected]; Tara Carraro, heinekenusa.com.