1.

Communications adaptability in Covid-19

         After a long period of social distancing, brands are coming to terms
with a hard truth: the ‘new normal’ is – perhaps ironically – going to be a
prolonged period of uncertainty. Despite the upheaval defining these most
difficult years, brands are continuing to transform in real-time and lay the
foundations for future growth. In Vietnam, this so-called “new normal” period
is going to require a number of changes in the communication approach of
Heineken, as well as other brands, and the company must manage to deal with
this situation through an increased focus on communication through
ecommerce.
         Firstly, Heineken is to emphasize and develop its e-marketing
platforms, primarily by reinforcing their business relationship with ecommerce
sites. Despite the fact that Heineken is not new to the field of of digital
marketing, having incorporated e-commerce into its operations since 2016, the
world famous brewer is currently focusing more and more on ecommerce
communication channels, and has cooperated with online retailers such as
Lazada, Tiki, Shopee and Bach Hoa Xanh in order to gain more online
presence in the Vietnamese market. In 2020, the company has launched the e-
commerce website Drinkies.vn, which approaches and sells directly to
consumers in major cities, including: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang.
The commercial segment tied to e-commerce revenue grew 200% compared to
2019, reaching 87,000 orders, 16,000 new members and more than 3,300
orders via Momo/Grab. Heineken’s more focused approach towards e-
marketing and communicating via digital shopping platforms, as well as social
media platforms have proven to, and will be successful for the brand,
especially in the so-called “new normal” of 2022, where the Vietnamese, as
well as citizens from other countries, spend their time at home and browsing
the Internet more than ever before. Posters and videos communicating
Heineken’s products managed to spread like wildfire on Facebook, Youtube
and Instagram, reaching more and more people as time goes by.
         Secondly, Heineken takes advantage of its aforementioned presence
online in order to connect with its target customers more, by communicating
the right things at the right time. Specifically, in the “new normal” period of
2022, there will also be a rise in healthy lifestyles which is drastically
influencing consumer choices, from their daily used product to extra spending
items. This health-conscious movement among consumers will stick for a
while and become one of the critical factors for brands to review their
positioning and product offering. Therefore, Heineken needs to restructure its
communication campaigns by not merely focusing on its products alone as
messages anymore. It finds  and incorporates new, Covid-19 related messages
into its communication campaigns, so that such campaigns can strike a chord
with the public. Thanks to the application of digital technology to conduct
research on consumer behavior, and thereby to launch appropriate
communication campaigns, the company has the opportunity to diversify its
product portfolio when launching the 0.0% alcohol Heineken 0.0 beer, and the
new brand Bia Viet in early 2020. Through this brand and the ingenuity in
using the brand to communicate, Heineken has also helped Vietnam support
10 billion VND for the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic in
Vietnam. Needless to say, this has improved the brand’s image to the
Vietnamese public, and will be an edge in 2022 and the years to come.
         The increased emphasis on digital communications is Heineken’s
primary means of adapting to the “new normal” period in Vietnam. From such
a new approach to the matter, it has opened up a plethora of new paths for
Heineken to take with their communication campaigns during the Covid-19
era. Whether to support business partners, when restaurants and bars were
mandated to close due to social distancing; or to join hands with local
communities in the fight against COVID-19 by donating a total of VND 12
billion and 22,000 masks under the brands Bia Viet and Larue, which went to
relief efforts in the most vulnerable locations across Vietnam; the focus on e-
communications has undoubtedly play a large role for Heineken.
2. Risks and recommendations:
         Perhaps the greatest risk in Heineken’s communication campaigns is
the lack of originality. While Heineken decidedly has a great advantage, the
campaigns’ ideas and messages are not exclusive to the company and thus, can
be replicated, sometimes to the same effect but at a lower cost, by the brand’s
competitors, namely Sabeco.
         Heineken is not the only beer brand at the moment trying to resonate
with the Vietnamese’s increasing concern for health. For example, Sabeco has
also been producing its own alcohol-free beer - Sagota, whose communicating
message: “Bia không say, lái được xe” has managed to resonate with the
public on a greater scale than Heineken 0.0. 0.0’s slogan “0 gì 0 thể” is
generally seen as a narcissistic stunt to promote the brand’s self-image rather
than a genuinely good-hearted attempt to make alcohol-free beverages for the
betterment of the people. In other words, the Vietnamese public sees
Heineken’s message as “Heineken only makes 0.0 because it can '', while
Sabeco’s is seen as: “Sabeco really does want to improve the health of its
customers!”. Further exacerbating problems is that Heineken’s 0.0 costs more
than Sabeco’s Sagota, and therefore customers are likely to turn away from the
brand’s product if given a chance. Therefore, Heineken apparently needs to
revise a number of its messages.
         The lack of originality does not stop there, as it extends to the emphasis
on ecommerce as well. Sabeco, as well as a number of SMEs, has shifted its
focus to emarketing much sooner than Heineken, and being a company of
Vietnamese origin, it has managed to enter into ventures with ecommerce
platforms in Vietnam much more easily than Heineken. Also, it has been
estimated that, despite the perceived online presence, Heineken’s advertising
budget is relatively small compared to some other beer brands. Specifically, in
the first half of 2021, Sabeco spent VND 6.88 billion on advertising and
promotions every day, Budweiser spent VND 5.09 billion on communication
campaigns, all of which are greater numbers than Heineken’s. Back in the
days before the “new normal”, where communication posters and leaflets can
be easily accessible outside, perhaps Heineken would not be concerned.
However, since the Vietnamese are spending more and more of their time
online, Heinken should also pay more attention to online communication, so
that it does not run the risk of being overtaken by its competitors, who are also
expanding their presence on social media as well as online shopping sites.
         In order to deal with the problems it may face in this period,
Heineken’s communication team should consider some recommendations.
Firstly, the company should conduct more thorough research on the market, in
order to know precisely what their customers want, and in turn, be able to give
them exactly the messages that they want in the communication campaigns.
Heineken can gather data through qualitative surveys, instead of quantitative.
Also, Heieneken should be more perceptive of consumer behaviour and trend,
which are ever-changing in these times of unstable economic conditions. This
can be done by taking advantage of its presence on social media, specifically
by monitoring the posts, the interactions of the netizens on certain statements,
as well as comments related to the matter. Furthermore, it is of importance that
the brand studies its own competitors as well, by studying how their
consumers react to the brands’ of their competitors relative to its own brand,
thereby knowing whether it has done something wrong (or right).
         Another point that needs to be made is that, to make their
communication campaigns more effective, Heineken should make it so that
their products are in-line with the messages that they want to convey through
their campaigns. Heineken’s beer has always been perceived as “high-end”,
“expensive” to the public at large, and this can be an obstacle. Heineken can
try revising its supply chain management to shorten it down to only the
necessities, then it can afford to price their products a little lower. Economical
prices are in line with the public demand in this period, and can certainly help
with later communication campaigns.
3. Crazy/Most creative communication idea for 2022:
         With the rise of Tiktok, as well as other short-video streaming
platforms, Heineken, should it want to maintain its presence on social media,
cannot afford to miss such an opportunity, and it may begin by emphasizing
short-video marketing instead of other, old forms of video marketing. A shift
to short-video marketing is indeed a bold and creative move for the company,
in order to better communicate with its customers in years to come.
         Since its inception, Heineken has almost only produced long
advertising videos, with the shortest of which being around 2 or 3 minutes in
duration. While they may have been acclaimed and beloved by their customer
base, times have changed, and customer tastes in advertising is no exception.
Leveraging the power of short-form videos that contain just enough content to
deliver is very effective, and sharing those videos is many times easier than
uploading a long commercial on YouTube. Although long-form videos can
provide depth and a great deal of information about a product, as well as
enhance the brand or service for the audience, short-form videos not only take
less bandwidth for brands to create, but also fits well with the fast attention
span of online audiences across a variety of demographics. The
aforementioned rising popularity of Tiktok is a testament of the attention span
of current audiences. Short videos are very suitable for the busy daily life of
Vietnamese people: the messages are short and clear, requiring only
concentration in a short time and easily and quickly to reach customers' needs. 
Moreover, Vietnamese people now use smartphones to go online, especially
young people who are Heineken's target customers, so the content must be as
short as possible.
         It is by no means an easy task for Heineken to make such a drastic
change in terms of primary communication methods. However, while the
brands are still hesitant to invest in TikTok, it is the time for Heineken to grab
this opportunity. It should first create a brand-specific account. Then explore
TikTok to get familiar with the platform and find some ideas, then outline the
basics of its TikTok communication strategies. Tiktok’s short videos are no
stranger to influence marketers, and social media on the whole have been
promoting and responding to this boom in short form videos by adding new
monetization tools, namely Tiktok’s Creator Marketplace. Thus, Heineken
should always have a creator with an established fan base ready to work with
it. Creators will sometimes do a much better job of creating even more
authentic lasting customer relationships than any brand account could ever
hope for. For example, Heineken can take advantage of its sponsorship of
prestigious soccer leagues, like the UEFA Europa League, which have
dedicated fan bases in Vietnam, to invite famous athletes like Cristiano
Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to be its own creators of short videos on Tiktok. That
way, their communication videos are likely to strike a chord with many soccer
fans, who also are Heineken consumers, in Vietnam.
         Once the company has decided to invest in short form video marketing,
it is important that it also has a listening strategy. During the pandemic, many
businesses have for the first time engaged in listening to what their social
media users really want. Brands tend to answer user questions in real time.
Especially, they want to know what their customers need during this time. In
order to avoid PR risks, this is necessary for a company which is relatively
new to short form video advertising like Heineken. Setting up 3 search streams
in the favorite social media management tools might do the trick. 
         In short, instead of long and informational advertising videos that tell
stories on Youtube or Facebook, Heineken must shift its focus towards short
but concise video communication campaigns, namely by taking advantage of
the rising star Tiktok, and perhaps, other short form video streaming services,
like Instagram’s Reels. No longer should the brand produce minutes-long
clips, but only seconds-long ones, to suit the interest of the current generation
better. It would be a daring move accommodated by daunting tasks, but may
ultimately prove to be vital to maintain the company’s dominance.