Think Robinsons and Wimbledon, with all the connotations of summer, outdoor pursuits and healthy, hydrated living. Yet other times it can feel arbitrary and forced – the vanity project of a marketing director or chief executive.
The challenge which faced Heineken global media and communications manager Chris Carroll was how to take the occasionally uncouth world of football – albeit the UEFA Champions League – and bring it together with the beer brand’s newly-launched ‘Open your world’ global brand strategy. Not at all easy, it must be said.
Heineken’s new positioning, launched late last year, aims to position the brand as the leading ‘premium’ beer in the market. Its TV ads, including ‘The Entrance’ and ‘The Date’, have centred on charismatic, inspirational males adored by all around them. Other elements of Heineken’s sponsorship portfolio (such as rugby and music festivals) fit more obviously within the aspirational, premium ideal. In comparison, while footballers inspire adoration among fans of the sport, many would question the universality of charisma and likeability at the upper echelons of the game.
So it arguably seemed counter-intuitive for Heineken to, for the first time, feature real-life footballers in its newly-devised ‘Legendary Football’ ads. Former Manchester United and Arsenal rivals Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Viera compete in one ad named ‘The Pantheon’, while in another glossy clip called ‘The Opera’ Dutch AC Milan star Clarence Seedorf fires a shot at Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Carroll says it was vital to find brand ambassadors to match the Heineken’s aspirations – on and off the pitch. "The players we have chosen represent legends of the game and the moments that they produced on the pitch coincide with the finer qualities of the football that our consumers admire. Whatever Heineken does as a brand is always high-quality, so the standard of players we use in our films must reflect that," he says.
The star-quality of the Champions League, which Carroll refers to as ‘black tie’ football, is reflected with the melodrama of the ‘Legendary Football’ campaign. Roman gladiators and beer-delivering angels attempt to recreate the wry humour of the wider ‘Open your world’ campaign. "We aim to help young men to reaffirm the type of man they are – confident, resourceful, and open to experiences and new people; and to offer them experiences which will help them enrich," says Carroll.
"Awareness is cheap," argues Carroll. His priority is brand perception. By the time the two Champions League finalists kick-off in Munich come May, Carroll will be hoping the campaign will have settled into a groove alongside Heineken’s wider advertising plans. Game on.