The beer brand has hired several veteran players to front its pan-European 'Legendary Football' drive, marking a shift from previous product-led activity.
Heineken's campaign ambassadors include former Holland internationals Clarence Seedorf and Ruud van Nistelrooy, Italian and German goalkeepers Gianluigi Buffon and René Adler, and retired former France captain Patrick Vieira.
The footballers will feature in a series of TV ads and idents to run alongside Champions League broadcasts.
The first TV clip, titled 'Opera', shows Seedorf taking a shot at Buffon at a European opera house. The second, 'Pantheon', shows former Arsenal and Manchester United rivals Vieira and Van Nistelrooy competing for a header in a Roman gladiatorial arena.
Cyril Charzat, global brand director at Heineken, said: "Legendary Football captures the excitement of the best that club football has to offer and the enjoyment of these high standards."
Heineken's StarPlayer digital game, which it rolled out in April, will be central to the activity. The game, devised by creative agency AKQA, allows fans watching football on TV to predict events such as free-kicks and corners before they happen on the pitch. StarPlayer can be played via iPhone, Facebook and iPod touch.
In May, Heineken ann-ounced that it had renewed its multimillion-pound sponsorship of the Champions League for a further three years.
The agreement included Facebook, YouTube and other social-media rights. The sponsorship will cover all global markets, including Germany, which was previously excluded from the deal.
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