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.