Heineken Australia says cheers for 150 years by ‘Celebrating Whatever You Call Us” Down Under in new campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi

Heineken is celebrating its 150th birthday around the world in 2023. To mark the milestone down under, the brand is encouraging Aussies to “Celebrate Whatever You Call Us” in a local campaign developed by Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, that taps into the nation’s existing love and creative knack for conjuring up beer – or unofficial Heineken – nicknames.

According to Heineken, the intention is to place the brand at the centre of Australian “beernacular” – ritualistic conversations that are already brewed into local beer culture – while showcasing the open-mindedness of the brand, and how its purpose of sparking true connections over a beer is more important than what Aussies call Heineken.

The Australian Top Spin by Saatchi & Saatchi Australia is part of a bigger campaign developed by LePub (both agencies part of the Publicis Groupe). It encourages Aussies to invite their mates along for a Heineken, by sharing their best versions of beer nicknames. The primary incentive for engagement is the chance to have their beer nickname appear in Heineken’s national campaign, on digital billboards or beer taps in select hospitality venues across the country.

To prompt consumer engagement, the local creative features beer nicknames like Heiny, Brewski, William Shakesbeer, Brew Jackman, and many more as examples of Aussie “beernacular”. In one of the campaign’s hero pieces of local content, Heineken has also enlisted the help of Australia’s good-time-loving honey badger, eight-time F1 Grand Prix Winner and racing driver, Daniel Ricciardo, to get Aussies’ creative juices flowing. In it, Ricciardo riffs multiple beer nickname invites using a play on words between beer and iconic landmarks or personalities, including Mt. Frothiuszko, Steve Brewscemi, and even one for himself: Daniel Beerciardo.

Says Dino Bozzone, country manager Australia, Heineken: “Australians have such an enthusiastic passion for nicknaming everything, and yet, despite Heineken being one of the nation’s most popular beers to drink, we realised Aussies don’t really have an existing nickname for our brand. Rather than trying to force this, our local campaign centres around inserting Heineken into the existing category vernacular of beer nicknames.

“It also insinuates Heineken – like Aussies – isn’t precious as a brand, as we’re open-minded about the way our consumers reference us, because this ultimately doesn’t matter. All that does is Aussies continue to celebrate with us down under! That’s a legacy Heineken wants to continue championing for the next 150 years, not just here in Australia, but in the remaining 191 countries we’re sold in around the world. We’re excited for Aussies to unleash their imagination and see what quirky, fun and original beer nicknames they can brew up.”

While global celebrations are kicking off throughout 2023, and in other markets the 150-year creative focuses on the different ways Heineken has been misspelt and mis-served over the years, the Australian top spin launched nationally on 24th July, and will run until the end of the year. In that time, Australians will be able to see and engage in the campaign across many digital and physical touchpoints, including:

OOH – featuring a digital outdoor billboard stunt which will showcase some of Australia’s best-submitted beer nicknames.
Social and digital – including a campaign microsite to submit beer nicknames, designed to inspire creative and social engagement via UGC.

In-store – various on and off trade promotions that incentivise Aussies to purchase a case of Heineken at their local and submit a beer nickname, for their chance to have it appear on beer taps in hospitality venues across the country, as well as win a range of prizes.
Audio partnership – with SCA’s LiSTNER podcasts “Aunty Donna” featuring influencers Mark Samual Bonanno and Sammy J.

To learn more about and participate in Heineken’s 150 year campaign, visit https://h150.heinekenpromotions.com.au

Client: Heineken Australia, Lion

Global creative agency: LePub

Local creative agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Australia

Media agency: UM

Digital agency: Affinity

Shopper agency: VMLY&R

PR agency: Herd MSL

Production agency: PXP Australia