Heineken USA is preparing another big push for Heineken 0.0 in 2024, aiming to get “millions of samples” of the nonalcoholic beer into people’s hands in the first quarter alone.
Heineken 0.0 launched in the US in 2019 and is already the top-selling nonalcoholic beer in the country, with around a fifth of the market, the company told The Wall Street Journal in October. But the category is relatively small compared to traditional beer, with household penetration still below 1% in the US, said Heineken USA Chief Marketing Officer Jonnie Cahill. Alcohol-free products account for 2% of the global beer market, the brewer has previously said.
Heineken competes with the likes of Budweiser, Peroni, Corona, and Guinness, whose owners are continually working on new brewing techniques to retain the taste and smell of beer after removing the alcohol content.
Some 40% of people who try Heineken 0.0 for the first time go on to drink it again, Cahill said, which is why the focus is on driving “millions of samples into people’s hands” in the first quarter.
“Normally your CFO doesn’t like you giving away beer but in this case my CFO absolutely loves us giving away beer because statistically they come back,” Cahill said.
Visitors to events that Heineken 0.0 sponsors, such as Formula 1, the Coachella music festival, and the esports tournaments that the gaming brand 100 Thieves participates will be offered free samples of the non-alcoholic beer in the coming months. The brewer will also be encouraging trial through partnerships with bars and restaurants, and the likes of Hello Fresh and Bluestone Coffee, where customers can add a free Heineken 0.0 to their delivery.
Cahill said the brand is aiming these efforts at Gen Z and millennial consumers who want to live a healthier, moderation-focused lifestyle.
Around one in five Gen Z consumers in the US don’t drink alcohol at all, which is in line with the national average, according to the consumer insights company GWI. But what makes the generation distinct is that they’re 14% less likely to drink regularly than other age groups, per GWI.
Heineken 0.0 drinkers tend to fall into three distinct categories, Cahill said.
There are those who don’t or hardly ever drink alcohol but want to enjoy the social aspect to having a beer. “One thing we always hear back in research groups is you can’t say ‘cheers’ with a Pepsi, it just feels weird,” Cahill said.
Then there are beer drinkers who choose Heineken 0.0 occasionally, like on a Monday afternoon, or when they’re driving, or participating in Dry January. For that reason, Cahill said, the nonalcoholic category has been accretive rather than cannibalizing alcoholic beer sales.
And there is an emerging category of “committed nonalcoholic fans” who are actively choosing nonalcoholic beverages. Heineken said in 2019 it would invest $50 million each year on marketing for Heineken 0.0. The company had also pledged to distribute 10 million free Heineken 0.0s in 2020. This effort, he said, “grew the category for our customers, distributors, and ourselves.” Heineken 0.0’s global sales in the third quarter grew 3.5% compared with the year-ago period.
Alongside the accelerated sampling push, the company will continue to spend 10% of its global media spending on messaging around drinking responsibly, such as through its “The best driver is the one who is not drinking” campaign starring Formula 1 star Max Verstappen.
“We can make moderation cool, and that will have a massive societal impact,” Cahill said.
Even though there are more sober Gen Zs than millennials, they’re less likely to regularly drink nonalcoholic equivalents than older consumers, said Chris Beer, a data journalist at GWI. Instead, they might be vaping or using recreational cannabis, which have grown in popularity in the last few years.
Over the longer-term, brands like Heineken “may need to diversify even further into the emerging recreational cannabis market by extending their CBD range of drinks or completely new product ranges,” Beer added.
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