Heineken to build ‘real-time marketing’ drive around mobile

The business is building the initiative around creating second-screen experiences.

It is to serve targeted content to fans in real-time based on whether they are watching a sponsored event such as the Champions League or the Ultra Music Festival in addition to using Facebook apps for global brands such as Desperados and Strongbow to reach people on the move. The brewer says it wants to move away from just developing apps that support global campaigns to creating platforms fans can use anytime.

Heineken’s global lead of digital strategy and media innovation Jeremy Brook told Marketing Week the business sees mobile as a “gamechanger” and a “real opportunity” for its brands to be a part of the conversations fans are having in real-time in “a way we haven’t been able to do so before”.

He adds: “The key insight we’ve taken from our partnerships with Google and Facebook over the last year is how much more connected devices our target consumer has access to now. This learning has made us look at how we build a capability around real-time marketing to make sure that adult drinkers want to have conversations with our brands.

“We’re also taking an inventive approach with how we develop apps. We’re working on projects at the moment that are building on consumer behaviour rather than interrupting it. We’re looking at how we leverage existing apps for future work rather than creating a deep and immersive experience that takes them away from their world and what they want to enjoy.”

The flurry of activity is the latest phase of the brewer’s social media strategy, which is using learnings from its global partnerships with Google and Facebook to grow its online fanbase. Heineken is also considering other social networks and earlier this year teamed up with Twitter to build a Vine-based video app to support its music sponsorship activity in the US. Heineken plans to use the video-sharing platform in upcoming marketing initiatives.

Digital marketing is set to be a key battleground for brewers this year as they step up efforts to reach younger consumers. Earlier this month, Carlsberg centralised its social media offering to create create traditional advertising campaigns inspired by content from its advocates, while AB Inbev is exploring ways to cascade social media best practices across its markets.