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INTEGRATED

MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Individual Campaign Critique
- Heineken “Worlds Apart”

Nah Min Ning

Student ID : S10172472A
HEINEKEN ‘WORLDS APART’ HYPOTHETICAL MEDIA SCHEDULE
2.A Introduction

In the market category of beer in the United Kingdom (UK) , Heineken is one of the
fore runners of the competition (Will), with its heavy participation in many high
profile events and associations1.

Despite the success2 Heineken UK has built for itself, in 2017, bringing awareness to
their tagline “Open Your World” was Heineken UK’s number one priority (Peña-
Taylor). Marketing was now needed to reinforce brand recognition and bring greater
meaning to what Heineken stood for (Peña-Taylor), so as to draw consumers back to
the brand.

With purposeful marketing campaign gaining storm3 in recent times (Tylee), there
was a fine line to draw in the morass of purposeful advertising.

However, armed with a convincing, resonant and ownable tagline and insights
regarding the needs of the market, Heineken’s marketing approach struck a chord with
people from all walks of life and created conversation around social issues while
strengthening awareness on Heineken’s tagline (Iles); reinforcing meaning in what it
stood for.


1
For examples of high profile events, refer to appendix 2.A.1
2
For explanation of Heineken’s success, refer to appendix 2. A.2.
3
For explanation of “purposeful campaign gaining storm” refer to appendix 2.A.3
2.B Problems & Objectives
As a result of Brexit, Tesco pulled out 24/53 of Heineken products after a price hike4
(Will). Hence, the impact of Brexit was consequential, resulting in lower beer
volume5 (Heineken) and a decreased expected operating margin (Reuters UK). The
inflation coupled with decreased accessibility due to lesser distribution channels
translates into a potentially decreased brand preference.

Meanwhile, in the crowded UK brewery market, there is a critical need to increase


brand recall and awareness while increasing its market share (Contagious I/O).
However, this opportunity to increase brand sales was in itself, also a problem.

This is as, despite being established in the market, one of the problems Heineken
faced was a low brand awareness as there was low awareness among the public on
what Heineken was, what it stood for and what their tagline meant (Peña-Taylor). As
lower brand awareness results in lower brand preference (Macdonald and Sharp), this
problem could become a threat to Heineken in the long run.

Therefore, the problem of a potentially decreasing brand preference and lower brand
awareness led to the campaign, which objectives are as listed:

Marketing Objective
To increase awareness of what Heineken stood for (their point of view) by bringing
meaning to their tagline and building a relatable, relevant and meaningful emotional
connection with their consumers.

Business Objective
To increase sales of Heineken beer, improving profitable growth


4
For explanation as to why Heineken released a price hike, refer to appendix 2.B.1
5
For definition of beer volume, refer to appendix 2.B.2
2.C Strategy

To comprehend Heineken’s marketing strategy for its “Worlds Apart” campaign, it


is salient to understand the context of the market that the campaign will be operated
in – post-Brexit United Kingdom (UK).

With increasing anti-immigrant and racial tensions in the UK that was the rhetoric
that once united the nation in the political decision (Sobolewska), it created the
context for an undercurrent of growing distrust and hostility as those in the UK
became increasingly intolerant towards those with different views.

Tapping on the contention of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that if growth is restricted


at any stage, regression to simpler needs might occur (Quigley), the instability of the
social and political environment (safety needs) post Brexit resulted in the
deterioration of a wide spectrum of social issues6 (Bachtler).

This resulted in a suggested increased need for belonging needs (championing a


certain cause), esteem needs (to be respected for their beliefs) to result in self-
actualization needs (solvation of any prejudices). As such, the innate needs of UK
residents combined with the context of Britain at the time of which the campaign
was to be executed resulted in Heineken adopting the marketing concept7(MC) as a
strategy. This was to communicate the value of products and services by catering to
their consumer’s needs in order to achieve their objective (Bhasin).

Ergo, Heineken UK wanted to impel openness’s and tolerance amidst a heavily


polarised post Brexit UK (Iles) by suggesting to people that that even with the social
turmoil, if only people were more open and tolerant, they would realise there was
more that united than separated them (Fox News). Heineken successfully executed
the campaign in a light-hearted approach8 by the MC strategy to bring forward its
carefully crafted message of openness and tolerance, bringing meaning aligned with
its tagline “Open Your World.”

Creatively executed9, the witty advertisement which created warmth, empathy, and
greater tolerance regarding modern social issues was a refreshing, unexplored and
unusual take on the standard formula for advertising beverages. This was as rather
than using the hard-sell approach to identify its unique selling proposition, the key
strategy Heineken applied integrated institutional advertising in its message through
the MC by targeting three heavily current social issues that were trending–
feminism, environmentalism and transgender (Townsend) (Kvistad, Pfeifer and
Weisser) (Sawyer).


6
For examples of social issues relevant to Heineken campaign, refer to appendix 2. C.1.
7
For further explanation and rationale behind the use of Heineken’s marketing concept, refer
to appendix 2.C.2
8
For a detailed explanation of the campaign, refer to appendix 2.C.3.
9
For a further explanation of why the film was considered creatively executed, refer to
appendix 2.C.4
2.D Tactics/Tools
Heineken has made use of Interactive Marketing through Internet, Online and Social
Media Marketing. It has also made use of viral word of mouth marketing and Public
Relations through News Releases and High-visibility individuals.

1. Owned - Social Media Marketing


Starting off initially as an organic marketing campaign, the film was released via
YouTube linked from Heineken’s Twitter and Facebook owned social media
accounts. 10

Through social media marketing, Heineken gained web traffic through their social
media sites and encouraged the sharing of opinions, experiences and
recommendations amongst their consumers (Eurobest). In other words, Heineken
successfully spread word of its campaign and its message on openness as people
questioned and praised the campaign, sharing their perspective and take on
Heineken’s film.

By generating contacts through their own networks, the consumers whom they have
reached in turn generated more contacts through their own network of externally
linked networks. This in turn results in Heineken’s message which came in the form
of the film becoming viral and leading to millions of unique visitors in over 150
countries worldwide (Iles).

2. Earned - High Visibility Individuals


As Heineken’s campaign became a roaring success, it’s film gained unpaid celebrity
endorsements, especially on Twitter, a highly visual platform used commonly for
breaking news.

There, Heineken integrated highly visible individuals , into their marketing


campaign by re-sharing their comments.

Such use of high visibility individuals can create visibility and positively impact
public perceptions on Heineken.

Example of integration of High Visibility Individuals into campaign. Richard


Kerris is a renowned tech guru.


10
For detailed breakdown as to Heineken’s social media posting on owned media, refer to
appendix 2.D.1
3. Earned - Viral Word of Mouth Marketing
With the main advertisement being an unlisted YouTube video that only utilised
organic marketing to initially gain traction, a big part of Heineken’s campaign would
have relied on viral world of mouth marketing on top of its social media platforms.

Considered a powerful and authentic information source for consumers because it


involves the views of their friends/family and unendorsed opinion leaders which are
considered trustworthy (Patton), the advertisement gained a wide reach.

Example of Unpaid Viral Word of Mouth Marketing on social media

As a result of viral world of mouth marketing, Heineken received earned coverage


from traditional and online media sources - spurring on more impressions and word
of mouth.

Free coverage from traditional media

4. Paid - Interactive Marketing - Online display banners 11


On top of owned media, Heineken later utilised paid marketing in the form of online
display banners as a visual extension of their marketing campaign. Embedded on
sites, the online banners were hyperlinked to Heineken’s official website whereby
consumers could then be redirected to their collaborative event with Human Library
Events (Eurobest).


11
For assumed rationale behind online display banners, refer to appendix 2. D.2.
Digital banners of campaign.

5. Owned - Public Relations


Meanwhile for Public Relations, Heineken released a news release through its
website regarding its worlds apart campaign. Through its online news release,
Heineken linked to its social media platforms, creating an integrated platform
(Heineken). Meanwhile, Human Library also released a news release which
explained its collaboration with Heineken (Human Library).

Press Releases regarding campaign.


2. Integration of Tools
E

Hypothetical mock-up of Heineken’s media schedule.12

The campaign which was centred on the 4.5 minutes film saw the integration of
owned, paid and earned media through its core message of tolerance and openness
and theme of openness (Eurobest).

Starting off, the film was released organically through YouTube and promoted
through Heineken’s 2 other owned social media platforms – Facebook and YouTube.

In both its Facebook and Twitter version, Heineken took on the same tone, utilising
hashtags and a same short statement questioning the openness of two strangers. This
short but provoking questioning statement captures their attention and curiosity,
leading them to click on their hashtag/video which provided the context for Heineken
to spread their message.


12
For assumptions and details of media schedule, refer to appendix 2. E.4.
As part of its collaboration with Human Library UK (HL.UK), HL.UK also released
multiple Facebook posts13 nearing their events reminding viewers on Heineken’s
support for their event through their collaboration. This active participation in the
event with a heavy emphasis on the theme of openness helped to further reinforce
Heineken’s message14. This was while, suggesting that Heineken was a brand that
stood for openness and tolerance.

An earned media post by Seen In The City that Human Library UK shared
regarding its collaboration.

As the video went viral, it received millions of views within a few days. Heineken
received coverage from newspapers, parodies, reaction videos and even unpaid
celebrity endorsements (Iles). Despite the different tone and manners the unpaid
coverage took on, the integration of this media that Heineken welcomed and rode on
aligned and strengthened their message by opening more conversations, bringing to
life their theme and the #openyourworld used on their social media.


13
For detailed breakdown of HL. UK’s Facebook post, refer to appendix 2. E.1.
14
For further explanation of how Heineken reinforced its message through
collaborated/sponsored events for HL.UK refer to appendix 2.E.1.2.
Parodies of film.
Emotional reactions of film.

Unpaid coverage from traditional


media. Unpaid Celebrity coverage.

With a boost from Public Relations, Heineken then integrated paid media 5 days after
the video release with its earned media (Eurobest). This serves to supplement
marketing campaign efforts to increase reach, spreading more awareness and
“opening “the minds of more individuals.

A largely digital campaign (Nudd), Heineken’s paid media was also supplemented by
a Facebook ChatBot that connected different individuals (Jardine). Similarly, this
stimulation of conversation suggested that Heineken not only meant what it stood for
but also actively encouraged its theme of openness by creating conversations
(Jardine).

Meanwhile, Heineken’s collaboration with Huffington Post- an online news site and
digital banners (Eurobest) increased exposure to the film and boosted coverage that it
had received from the earned media.
Running on the success of a combination of owned, earned and paid media Heineken
later advertised through owned media15 (Instagram) to build up hype to their event.
Such advertisement served as reinforcement advertising while leading more
consumers to sign up for the last HL.UK collaborated event.

Following this period, Heineken UK relied on paid media that would take the form of
digital banners, its Facebook Chat-bot and its collaboration with Huff Post on articles
discussing common ground issues. This topics regarding common ground, along with
their chatbots aligned with their theme and message, built up to the event in an
organic manner, stimulating conversations by allowing people to find common
ground on varying topics with a gamut of viewpoints (Human Library). Ergo,
reinforcing their underlying message that whatever the context, people could be
united if they were open and tolerant.

What was unique about Heineken’s campaign was that it was largely digital (Nudd).
This meant that excluding its Human Library Events and earned media that came in
the form of both broadcast and digital media, Heineken utilised owned and paid
media only in the form of digital media to integrate its entire campaign.

Considering that the film was indispensable to the campaign’s success, the complete
absence of broadcast and non-broadcast media for message delivery was unusual for
an integrated marketing campaign. However, the reasons could be due to the
restrictions16 of UK’s advertising practices .


15
For detailed explanation of Heineken’s use of owned media to build up hype to event refer
to appendix 2. E.2.
16
For detailed explanation of advertising restrictions, refer to appendix 2. E.3.
2.F Results

Intangible
The advertisement generated a 91% positive sentiment rate with a large proportion of
their views on their YouTube film being organic views (Peña-Taylor). Also, 80% of
consumers felt that Heineken is a brand of them and 78% had increased brand affinity
(Edelman). Additionally, Heineken’s advertisement which was what the campaign’s
focus was centric on, scored 10/10 for retention, engagement and impact (Real Eyes).

This suggested that Heineken had managed to capture the zeitgeist of the nation by
breaking through the market’s advertising clutter to give the brand an emotional
reason for being in consumer’s lives. Balancing the fine line between political and
purposeful advertising, Heineken effectively transmitted its message of what it stood
for - openness and tolerance - all the while bringing its tagline to life

Tangible
Heineken UK had a 7.3% hike in beer sales during the 12-week period following the
campaign (Edelman). With over 600 pieces of earned media (Peña-Taylor), the
advertisement spread its message of openness with its reach of 2 billion (Eurobest),
40 million views (Peña-Taylor), 324,000 engagements and 531,000 shares
(Eurobest).

With that being said, the advertisement’s attraction level only scored a six and its
retention, engagement and impact level were unable to compete with other top
advertisements17 (Real Eyes). Hence, the campaign may be seen as run of the mill
over the long run and lose its memorable impact and consumer’s retention of their
main message.


17
For explanation of meaning of being unable to compete with other top adverts, refer to
appendix 2. F.1.
2. Assessment of the Campaign
G Overall, the campaign was a successful one. Considering the overwhelming response
regarding brand affinity and preference, the campaign increased Heineken’s brand
equity and top of mind awareness by giving the brand an emotional reason for being
in consumer’s lifestyles.

This was while managing to achieve its marketing objective of increasing awareness
on what it stood for and reinforcing its tagline in the minds of consumers. Also, with
a hike in beer sales, Heineken managed to turn its head on post Brexit economic
difficulties to achieve its business objectives.

Heineken’s Campaign strengths are:

1. Its ability to create a strong brand presence and a viral campaign with integration of
tools to convey its theme and message despite being a heavily digital campaign.

2. Being a mature brand in the market, it had strong brand presence, increasing people’s
receptiveness to its campaign.

3. Its ability to manipulate18 the conditions of advertising in post Brexit UK to its


advantage.

Heineken’s weakness:

1. An absence of traditional media

Despite the UK’s rules on alcoholic advertising for broadcast and non-broadcast media,
clauses 19exist in which Heineken could utilized to advertise their campaign.

Exception Clauses Heineken could have used

The use of traditional media could have allowed Heineken greater integration, more
impressions and participation in their events with HL.UK. This would be especially
effective in reaching the older generation in UK who have a weaker presence on social
media (Nominet UK) but use more broadcast media (Sambrook and Nielsen).


18
For explanation of how Heineken managed to manipulate the conditions, refer to appendix
2. G.1.
19
For explanation of how Heineken could have used exception clauses, refer to appendix 2.
G.3.
2. A weak social media upkeep20.

Secondly, while Heineken UK has managed to successfully engage its consumers on


social media, it has a weak social media presence and engagement 21, especially when
compared to Global Heineken.

For a campaign that is heavily digital, such engagement could have value added to its
brand and tagline of “open your world” by encouraging more conversations and
sharing (Pressault), thereby increasing reach further.

Example of Heineken’s UK weak


engagement.

Example of Global Heineken’s


consistent engagement with audience.


20
For explanation of Heineken’s weak social media upkeep, refer to appendix 2. G.2.
21
For explanation on Heineken’s weak social media presence, refer to appendix 2.G.4.
2.H Conclusion
With emotional advertising on the rise and having a large impact on brand loyalty
(York), there is a fine line to cross between being purposeful and overstating their
impact in the lives of consumers.

Challenging social stigma through an unscripted advertisement in the backdrop of a


politically unstable and tension market was a challenge to Heineken as to how well
received it would be (Peña-Taylor).

By having powerful and ownable insights that aligned with its tagine which was
substantiated with the flawless execution of the advertisement and integration of
events and digital media helped Heineken to transcend any barriers and viralised the
advertisement and campaign.

In doing so, Heineken managed to stand out amongst the clutter of emotional
advertisements - hitting the mark of purposeful advertisement, emotionally
connecting consumers with what it stood for and driving a turnover for Heineken
both in terms of sales and spreading its tagline far and wide.

Word Count : 2496 Words


(Excluding Works Cited, ITCS, appendix/annex, foot notes and headers)
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Appendix
2.A Introduction
2.A.1
High profile events and associations include its involvement with popular “celebrities” and
events such as James Bond advertising and Formula One sponsor. (Peña-Taylor)

2.A.2
The success that Heineken had built for itself refers to how over the years, Heineken had
worked hard to ensure that it not only remained ahead of the competition but come up with
advertisements to emotionally engage consumers.

Example of Heineken’s other viral


campaigns that engaged viewers.

2.A.2
Purposeful marketing campaign gaining storm : both for the good (highlighting important
social issues) The bad (overtly insensitive campaigns) that seem to overstate their role in
consumers’ lives (Peña-Taylor). Good e.g. Dove advertisements which promotes inner beauty
than external beauty. Bad e.g. Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner advertisement which infuriated viewers
as it trivialised riots, suggesting that it can be resolved by a Pepsi.
2.B Objectives
2.B.1
Reason for Heineken price hike : In 2017, Brexit saw the decline of UK’s economy (Miller),
resulting in nation-wide inflation and Heineken initiating a price hike for all products (Will).
Consequently, Tesco – Britain’s largest multinational grocery pulled 24 of 53 Heineken
products of its shelf (Will).
2.B.2
Beer volume refers to the total volume of beer manufactured and sold by Heineken and its
related/owned companies (Heineken).
2.C Strategy
2.C.1 Wider Spectrum of Social Issues
Among which, were increased hostility towards the transgender community (Townsend) and
uncertainty towards women rights movement progression (feminism) (Sawyer) and
environmental protection for Britain (Kvistad, Pfeifer and Weisser). These three topics were
un-coincidentally, what Heineken chose to feature in their film.
2.C.2 Further rationale behind marketing concept
As aforementioned, Heineken is a relatively established UK brewery brand and one of the
main stakeholders of the beer market. However, in an era where consumers are well informed
of purchases, retaining customer loyalty is difficult and requires effort. Since Heineken is in
the maturity stage, to increase top of the mind awareness and growth (objectives), in a market
that is highly competitive, it needs to have a strong brand presence and brand equity.
Hence, its strategy would be to stay relevant and focused in its maturity stage by adapting to
various consumer taste and most importantly, to come up with a campaign to engage with
them after understanding their consumer’s motivations. This marketing strategy would allow
Heineken to hold market share while finding new buyers. This is especially important as an
impact of Brexit has meant that its B2C distribution channels have decreased drastically with
Tesco pulling out their products.
2.C.3 More details on “Worlds Apart” Campaign
To create an atmosphere of mutual empathy, understanding and respect in a heavily polarised
UK (Iles), Heineken’s “Worlds Apart” campaign was centred mainly on a 4.5 minute
advertisement cum social experiment where 3 pairs of individuals with contrastingly different
views would come together to decide whether they wanted to discuss their differences over a
Heineken or leave (Varty).
Albeit unscripted (Iles), the format was done in such a way that the first round where they
shared similarities and shared adjectives about themselves without any preconceived opinions
of each other created a deeper sense of understanding, empathy and made each individual
more relatable to the other. This was while fostering a sense of comradery while building
furniture. After which when their dissimilar views were released to each other, they would
already have bonded and the similarities they shared would have made them more receptive
towards each other and even create a sense of curiosity and desire to learn more about each
other. Hence, the campaign fulfilled the two steps of Esteem and Belonging, paving the way
to the nirvana of self-actualization.
Also, as part of their campaign, Heineken collaborated with The Human Library – an
organisation that creates opportunities for people to connect with various individuals, using
communication to quell stereotypes (Human Library). This further add on to acceptance and
removing prejudices.
2.C.4
Why the film was creatively executed
The film did away with opinion leaders that they used in previous successful campaigns like
007 and the routine of informational advertising directly displaying the product’s key
features.
2.D. Tactics/Tools
2.D.1. Owned - Social Media Marketing
The Facebook version, featured only one posting on the 21st of April. With the same caption
as the first video posted on Twitter, it garnered 51 shares and 72 reactions.

The Twitter Version, featured 2 organic posts, first on the 21st of April and the next on the
26th of April. The first version on 21st of April was a link to their YouTube video. Meanwhile
the second version was a 1.58 minute snippet of the 4 minute video which has been watched
174,000 times. Together, they garnered 3615 retweets, 168 comments and 5840 likes as to
date.
Meanwhile, the YouTube version released on the 20th of April, featured the full length film
albeit, unlisted. Till date, it has garnered 14,797, 798 views, 67,000 likes and 4,702
comments.

Heineken also used Instagram at a later stage to share its campaign and encourage traction to
its YouTube Video.
The Instagram version featured 3 snippet clips. The clips lasting 20 seconds each had the first
two showcasing a different pair of individuals and the third a combination of all three
individuals and their opposing views. The first two clips were released on the 16th of August
and had a total of 545 views. Meanwhile, the third clip was released on the 18th of August
and had 285 views and 2 comments. Together, they garnered 830 views and 2 comments.

2.D.2. Paid - Interactive Marketing - Online display banners


Despite being the most traditional form of online advertising, online display banners have
been shown to increase a site’s traffic, even with a low percentage of direct click through
rates (Maynes).
2.E.
2.E.1 Details regarding Hl.UK’s Post
HL.UK released multiple Facebook posts on the 21st(1 post) and 22nd (1post) announcing the
integration of Heineken’s campaign with their organisation’s activities. HL.UK‘s posts also
featured earned media sites reporting on their collaborated event that happened in the week of
22 April.
Starting from the week of 24 September to 22 October, Heineken relied on its collaborative
partner HL.UK (paid media in the form of collaboration) to post weekly updates leading on to
their final HL.UK event that would occur on the 19th of October (week of 22 October).
2.E.1.2 How Heineken reinforced its message through Hl.UK’s event
The fact that Heineken took a step further by integrating their message in the event suggested
that Heineken truly meant openness and stood up for what it stood for through active action -
sponsoring HL.UK’s event about challenging stereotypes through active conversation.
2.E.2 Heineken’s owned media
Heineken did not reinforce their campaign through any further owned media until after its 2nd
collaborated event with HL.UK in which HL.UK made a posting 2 weeks prior to the event.
A week after the first event, Heineken released 3 short clips on Instagram leading back on to
their YouTube advertisement.
2.E.3 Advertising restrictions in the UK
Heineken’s campaign heavily conveyed the messaging that bonding was critical to tolerance
and openness and it portrayed so by showcasing the fact that the individuals bonded over a
Heineken. In doing so, it innocuously injected the notion that drinking Heineken would
lighten the mood of serious issues, allowing individuals to bond successfully. While this light
touch approach in soft selling Heineken was what defined Heineken’s success, converting
such a video into a broadcast advertisement would defy clause 19.4, 19.7 and 19.8 of UK’s
Advertising Broadcast Code (Advertising Standards Authority), and 18.3 and 18.6 of the
Non-Broadcast advertising code (Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP)).
Hence, this would suggest why Heineken chose not to use Broadcast and Non-broadcast
mediums for advertising, limiting it to strictly digital platforms which are mainly owned.

Broadcast Clauses which the full film/ film with part of cast bonding over
Heineken would have broken.

Non-broadcast Clauses which the full film/ film with part of cast bonding over
Heineken would have broken.
Section 18.15 of the broadcast code only forbids advertising on TV should a majority
segment be under 18 (Advertising Standards Authority). However, with the reality being that
UK’s TV audiences are ageing and more youths in the UK are shifting from traditional
towards digital media (Sweney), it suggests an alternative reason other than the restrictions of
the broadcast code as to why Heineken chose to make the campaign largely digital. With
liberalism being a popular culture among the youth in UK (Grady), Heineken’s video heavily
centred on the concept of openness may be aiming the advertisement towards the younger
target segment. This could be in hopes that it will strike a chord with them and Heineken will
be at the top of their brand preference when they do drink.
2.E.4 Assumptions for media schedule
As Heineken launched no further events, paid media collaborations, and posts via its owned
media, it is assumed that Heineken Worlds Apart Campaign and any reinforcement strategies
regarding the campaign ended in September.
Considering that Heineken did not use any owned Media posting thereafter the last
collaborated event with HL.UK , it is assumed that Heineken would thereby have dropped its
paid media FaceBook Chatbot after the month of August.
2. F Results
2.F.1-What it means being unable to compete with top advertisements
This suggested that while Heineken’s marketing campaign had managed to hit the right spot,
Heineken still had room for improvement and could have engaged consumers better, both
through the advertisement and through its marketing efforts.
2.G. - Assessment of Campaign
2.G.1
Explanation of how Heineken UK managed to manipulate the conditions of advertising in
post Brexit UK to its advantage.

By embracing the market condition and touching relevant social topics, Heineken was able to
understand the emotional context linked to consumer’s needs to draw out a marketing campaign
with the big idea on openness and tolerance that aligned themselves with their consumers,
emotionally stimulating their buying motivations through an emotional connection. This use
of institutional advertising increased their brand equity while effectively reaching out to their
consumers among the advertising clutter to create a distinctive position as the beer brand of
choice.

2.G.2 Heineken’s posting consistency


In the entire run of the campaign, Heineken had only 1 post on FaceBook, 3 posts on
Instagram and 4 Post on Twitter
2.G.3 Explanation of clause Heineken could have used for broadcast advertising
Considering that the main aim of the campaign was to spread awareness on its tagline and that
the main focus was not selling the product, Heineken could have simply excluded the ending
shots of individuals drinking over their discussion to lead on to their YouTube advertisement
and spread its message of openness. In such sense, Heineken would not have broken the
aforementioned clauses of the broadcast code (Advertising Standards Authority). Heineken
would then be able to use broadcast media such as cinema, TV and radio advertising to extend
the reach of its campaign. Furthermore, certain exceptions of the broadcast code would have
allowed Heineken flexibility in advertising, should it have attempted to (Advertising Standards
Authority).

2.G.4 How Heineken UK has a weak social media presence and engagement.
This is as compared to Global Heineken which regularly responds to and interacts with its
consumers to create a two-way communication that encourages more conversations (Pressault),
Heineken UK does not stimulate conversation as it’s interaction style leans towards a one-way
communication. Further, its social media postings are far and in-between. With posting
consistency one of the greatest drivers of brand engagement (Boitnott), is losing out on
potential reach especially since its target market (UK) has an especially high social media (66%)
and Facebook penetration rate (Statista).

Social media penetration in the UK.


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