Back in 2016, in ‘mature’ European markets, consumers were drinking ever less alcohol than their predecessors. Good for their health, less good for Heineken whose growth had stagnated.

To remain relevant and grow, Heineken created Heineken 0.0.

This was a sound idea, but unfortunately not a terribly original one. The non-alcoholic beer category was already booming, with an average of 60 brands already in market with more being launched.

We thought our product looked and tasted great. Unfortunately, consumers were less excited by it- before launch demonstrating lower purchase intent for us than for the competitive set. And that was before we’d told them the ambitious price premium we’d be charging.

Undaunted, Heineken’s ambition was announced: to become the world’s leading non-alcoholic beer brand, starting by launching in 7 European markets, in Q2 2017.

To achieve this goal, an equivalently bold brand strategy was required…