Heineken Premium Light
Launching the Luxury Light Category
Heineken entered light beer category (comprising 50% of beer consumed in the U.S.) on March 1, 2006, with the first major brand extension in the company’s 133-year history. Strong results in test markets confirmed the opportunity for HPL to create a Luxury Light category and offer domestic light beer drinkers a reason to “trade up.” MSLGROUP worked with Heineken to develop a launch plan which consisted of a stunt in Times Square with Mindfreak’s Criss Angel, a CEO media tour as part of a multi-tiered strategy, and an exclusive launch event in NYC. Momentum continued with 10 additional events throughout March. As a result, HPL met its year one sales goal in the first six months. MSLGROUP generated 104 million positive media impressions with 110 print and broadcast hits in national and local markets, and secured 240 blog hits and 61 web placements.