The Dutch brewer plans to withdraw the current Heineken products available in the UK -- Heineken Cold Filtered and Heineken Export -- during the next year.
They will be replaced with its premium Heineken beer brand, which has an ABV of 5% in early 2003. Heineken Cold Filtered has an ABV of 3.4%, while Heineken Export has a 5% ABV.
Heineken has appointed Clemmow Hornby Inge to handle what is expected to be a large-scale launch of the new beer, after ending its long-standing relationship with Lowe & Partners. MindShare will handle media for the work.
The UK lager market is on the up and up, with the AC Neilsen/Marketing magazine's survey of the biggest brands in the UK showing that Foster's, Carling and Stella Artois showing sales growth of more than 18% for the year.
Heineken hopes that its new product will steal market share from Interbrew's Stella Artois, the premium lager that is now the fifth-biggest brand in the country.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .