Heineken Premium Light: Great Strategy, Poor Execution

The premium light beer market is taking off and Heineken is making the right move by jumping aboard. Regardless of the fact that Heineken hasn’t had a line extension in 133 years, the risk of losing market share to the premium light category far out ways any risk of cannibalization of the Heineken brand. Much like Corona Light, Heineken Light can still be know as a premium lager and have a sibling brand known for the same thing with less calories.

Strategically Heineken Premium Light was smart move and it’s no wonder that it quickly captured the #2 spot in the imported light beer category according to Heineken USA execs. The problem lies within the $50 million dollar marketing campaign execution. The target audience of the new premium light beer targets males 21 to 34; maybe even reaching a little higher into the younger half of the baby-boomer generation. In a total misfire, the Heineken commercial features a dancing Heineken bottle with the music over of the Pussycat Dolls singing “Don’t Cha.” A sure miss step that will be overshadowed by the overwhelming success of the new Heineken Premium Light, success that can be directly attributed to the brand awareness of Heineken the high growth rate of the imported light beer category.

Mac vs PC Ads

The actors in the new Apple comparison ads do a good job of representing their respective platforms. Here are a few of the commercials...

(For the recent Branding Blabber post click here.)

Simplicity


Virus


Freezing
(This one would be my favorite)

The Nike Joga Bonito World Cup Soccer Commercials

Here are the Nike Joga Bonito commercials that are running during the World Cup. These are some very talented athletes and Nike does a good job of capturing the ability that these men have.
Additionally these commercials do a good job of capturing the attention of viewers, a lot of whom in America are not avid soccer fans, and then showcasing different aspects of soccer. These commercials then help raise Nike's awareness and reinforce its leading position in sport apparel.

More VW

Well it doesn't look like I was the only one who disagreed with the VW "Pimp It" commercials. I never even saw this one on TV.

These commercials were produced by Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, the same agency who developed the "Subservient Chicken" website.

It seems that the campaign was pulled rather promptly and filled with more fitting spots that really made an impact with viewers. The commercials raised eyebrows because of their brute reality. The spots feature every day drivers who abruptly become involved in an accident.
In addition, new spots have begun running featuring "low emission ego" drivers. These campaigns fit the VW image more appropriately than the Vee Dub campaign and really show VWs as safe cars for the people, for everyone.