Learn How Heineken’s Using the Non-Alcoholic Beer Sponsorship to Replacing Amstel As a UEFA Europe League Sponsor

The association of Heineken with UEFA is not recent. It has been a UEFA Sponsor partner since the year 1994 in different ways. In the latest news, Heineken has decided to associate its non-alcoholic beer brand with European football with an annual investment of 10 million Euros. Heineken 0.0 is being brought into the spotlight with a very special agenda – the growth of the 0% ABV sector.

Why Heineken 0.0?

The Coronavirus pandemic has induced a trend where people are more concerned about maintaining good health and wellbeing. This has resulted in a surge of 40% growth for 0.0. There is an expectation that this market will continue to grow with innovative developments of taste. The new non-alcoholic drink is targeted at those who want to enjoy the taste of beer without getting drunk.

Association with Football

The game of football hasn’t been the same ever since the pandemic hit. The matches have only been viewed on TV. Having a beer with every match watched on TV (and there have been many!!) is not practical or healthy. Heineken wants to encourage the consumption of 0.0 as a drink that the viewers ‘CAN’ have more regularly. They want to make it cool. The ‘Now You Can’ campaign is in the process of physical implementation while the digital one gets prepped.

The Aim of the Campaign

The sponsorship deal involving Heineken 0.0 has replaced the one with Amstel. The purpose of the whole campaign is to help people discover more sports-related occasions where non-alcoholic beer can be consumed. Amstel has been dropped from the list because they are more focussed on “leveraging the synergies between markets for amongst others the Copa Libertadores in South America”, as per Tuijt, global sponsorship director at Heineken.

Heineken All the Way

Using both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages from Heineken to sponsor European football is aimed at creating an association of the sport with the brand where the two become synonymous.

The Expectation from the Sponsorship

There is an expectation that the interest in the brand will see a spike with the return of the sport. The high-intensity mini-tournament format to be held in Germany is also expected to contribute for the same. The deal has been signed for the next four years and is expected to enjoy improved reach through the introduction of UEFA Europa Conference League.

Hit or Miss

The deal has been signed with confidence in the performance of the product. What remains to be seen is if Heineken can manage to grow its 0% ABV product without hampering the status of its main product. The diversification plans to introduce a healthy but new product could go either way. What happens now remains to be seen. Tuijt believes that there will always be a demand for the original product.

In the meantime, the viewers can enjoy football and fresh ideas from Heineken. If the product is a hit and both products show healthy growth, Heineken could have hit the jackpot.

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