Our challenge was to launch a new brand - Heineken Silver - a lighter, less bitter beer, targeting younger audiences (18 to 24-year olds), whose lager consumption had halved in the last seven years.

Because Heineken was struggling to still be relevant to Gen Z, the aim was for Heineken Silver to attract new, younger audiences, as a beer with a more contemporary taste profile.

The main point of difference for Silver was its extra refreshing taste, created through an ice cold lagering process at -1 degrees.

The Objective:

To become the beer brand of choice for Gen Z through a product launch that would have a halo effect on the entire Heineken brand

We decided to embrace true realness in a fresh way.

The channel insight: The Metaverse might be a great place for fashion brands, and great for entertainment. But it’s not the best place to try a new beer.

To demonstrate that the virtual world isn’t always better than the real one, we ironically jumped on the Metaverse trend by launching the first virtual beer that you are not able to hold, drink or taste. The virtual beer was unveiled at a launch event in Heineken’s virtual brewery in Decentraland, where journalists and guests were invited.

The virtual beer was promoted as if it was a new beer that consumers could try for themselves. Once they interacted with the new virtual Silver in the metaverse, they realised that they weren't able to taste it. Hence, we induced them the need and expectation to then try it for real.