One of the world’s largest brewing companies, Heineken has announced a strategic partnership with the Oracle Red Bull Racing, a formula One racing team and the endorsement of Max Verstappen, the 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Champion to further deepen it’s advocacy for responsible consumption.
The leading brewer made this announcement on its LinkedIn page. It said: “Formula 1 superstar Max Verstappen is officially the global Heineken 0.0 ambassador championing responsible consumption. Ahead of what promises to be a thrilling F1 racing season, Max joins us to promote responsible drinking and take a leading role in our ‘When You Drive Never Drink’ Campaigns.
“Heineken also announces a partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing -bringing together two innovators and giants of the sport to deliver fans unforgettable trackside experiences. Welcome Max!
The company stated that this partnership is precisely intended to emphasize its position on responsible drinking while giving consumers incredible and fun-filled experiences.
Heineken has always advocated responsible consumption of its products through building global partnerships and executing worldwide campaigns, as well as committing to invest 10 percent of all media budget to support these programmes.
In an interview conducted recently by MARKETING EDGE, Sampson Oloche, Head-Premium, Sessionable 0.0 Portfolio, Heineken Company, Nigeria stressed how important it is for the company to amplify responsible consumption of its brands.
He said: “We have a global mandate and I don’t think it is a secret that it is 10 percent of our media. So, one, out of every N10 spent in media, has to go into this campaign. There is no regulatory or government regulation on this. This is just us, being a corporate citizen, to say we take 10 percent of our media spend on promoting this, then we are doing a good job educating people and reminding them that they should stay safe”.
Responding to the new partnership and endorsement, on his LinkedIn page, Uchenna Ibemere, Head of Integrated Communication, Nigeria Breweries, a member of the Heineken group, stated: “More epic news from The Heineken Company! F1 world champion and superstar Max Verstappen will be an official global Heineken 0.0 ambassador championing responsible consumption. We are also delighted to announce a partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing &Red Bull Technology and Heineken 0.0- the perfect pairing to deliver exceptional fan experiences around the race weekend. Can’t wait to see what 2023 season has in store”.
While this global partnership appears to be a step in the right direction as the global brand is reckoned to be affiliated with leading sporting events such as the UEFA League, the impact of this partnership with Formula One as well as the endorsement of Max Verstappen on the Nigerian market cannot be ascertained since the sporting event is not as popular with the Nigerian consumer.
Formula One is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars. They are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world, owing to very high cornering speed. Countries that have hosted the F1 Grands Prix in the past include Britain, Spain, France, Belgium, USA, Italy, Germany, Monaco, Canada, Japan, Austria, Hungary, Australia, Netherland, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina etc.
Also a report by Oxford Economics in March, 2022, the assessment of beer sector across 70 countries indicated that Nigeria ranked 30th in global beer sales during the forecast period, accounting for 0.86 percent of $266.9 billion global sales.
And that report also established the sector as an increasingly lucrative industry with new figures compiled by Prime Business revealing that Nigerians consumed beer worth N599.11 billion in six months.
This shows huge turnovers by the leading brewers in the country which include International Breweries, Nigerian Breweries, Guinness, and Champion Brew grew 31.2% compared to N456.44 billion generated during the corresponding period in 2021.
Edge