One supplier leading this charge—
not just in the quality of its own draught
program, but in upgrading the draught
beer experience in general—is Heineken
USA. “I only work with suppliers that
work with me,” Dennehys states, “and in
the last few years Heineken has worked
tirelessly when it comes to attention to
detail, right down to the glass itself.”
The Premiumization of Draught
Heineken’s goal is no less than changing
the American mindset about draught. The
company’s large-scale effort began as part
of an internal program called Passion for
Beer, inaugurated to educate every person
at Heineken about beer ingredients, the
brewing process, pouring and presenta-
tion. It was so successful, they rolled it
out to the trade, teaching the on-premise
how to build better draught systems and
deliver a superior consumer experience.
“
A draught beer should be a higher qual-
ity experience than popping the crown
off a bottle,” says Patrick Libonate, Direc-
tor, On-Premise and Draught Strategy,
Heineken USA. “Yet in the average bar,
you’ll see a million mistakes and the re-
tailer isn’t the only one to blame—suppli-
ers and distributors are at fault as well.”
While wine interest and education
exploded in the 1980s and ’90s and the
category developed an upscale image, beer
has remain commoditized, says Libonate.
“
The common American practice of serv-
ing beer in pitchers is laughable in Eu-
rope,” says Libonate. “The idea that you
would put a large quantity of beer in a
plastic container and pour it out over time
when it will be flat and likely too warm is
far from ideal. There are laws in Belgium
and the U.K. about not pouring certain
beers in the wrong glassware—that is how
sacred draught beer is in Europe.”
The most common error Libonate sees
is dirty glassware. Between leftover lip-
stick from a previous customer and clean-
ing agent residue, glasses are frequently
detracting from the taste of the beer. “This
is a primary reason that a patron would
not order another beer or would not come
back to the establishment—it costs op-
erators a lot of business they don’t even
realize.” Using the right kind of cleaning
agents, investing in the highest-quality
washers—even hand-checking the glasses
before they are used again—are not in-
significant investments, but ones that
will pay off in sales. “We are working to
help operators understand that it’s worth
spending the money on the right equip-
ment,” says Libonate.
Glassware is tricky for licensees, Li-
bonate acknowledges: “We realize that
operators have a limited amount of space
and they can’t take on glassware from
every supplier. But we still want them to
understand the value of doing it the right
way. Our message is all about quality over
quantity.” Presentation is everything,
Dennehys insists: “The glass you serve the
beer in makes a hell of a difference. If I go
into an establishment and I see improper
glassware, beer not holding its head, I
won’t drink it and order a bottle instead.”
While Heineken is still collecting
feedback on its initiative in the U.S.—
and plans to study a base of 50 accounts
where the Passion for Beer program is
in place—they have been able to obtain
preliminary sales data which shows that
not only are Heineken sales on the rise
in participating bars, but all beer sales are
up, Libonate reports: “That is the real ad-
vantage for the retailer—they are making
more money.”
Driving Traffic
Heineken’s target consumer is primarily
male, age 27 to 33 and well traveled, with
a higher-than-average income for their
demographic and an “openness to new ex-
periences.” Freddy Heineken himself, the
genius brewer/marketer that grew the com-
pany into the world’s third largest brewer,
set out to build a highly social aspect into
the Heineken experience—in other words,
it wasn’t a beer to be used for drinking away
problems, but for gathering friends and in-
spiring interesting conversation.
“
Our messaging reflects that,” says
Libonate. “We want to buck the trend of
beer advertising, by featuring high-energy
music and adventurous unique imagery.
It’s not for everyone, but we really do be-
lieve its right for our consumer.”
What better way to speak to this con-
sumer than by teaming up with James
Bond. As part of a global partnership,
Heineken has engaged in a large scale ad-
vertising and digital campaign around the
23
rd
Bond movie release. “Bond embodies
so much of who we see our consumer to
be—a man of the world,” says Libonate.
To drive retail traffic, Heineken devel-
oped a digital app called Spysight that
consumers can download on their smart
phones and use in participating accounts
in order to win prizes.
Promoting food and beer pairing has
been another way to engage consumers for
Heineken. “You’ll hear from many experts
how beer blows wine away when it comes
to complementing food,” says Libonate.
What started with the Newcastle brand
(
a particularly excellent beer for food)
now extends throughout the portfolio,
and Heineken is building an even more
elaborate food pairing strategy to allow
sales reps to create impactful activations
“
Dirty glassware is a primary reason
that a patron would not order another
beer or would not come back to an
establishment—it costs operators a
lot of business they don’t even realize.”
