Heineken’s ‘cool’ move from YouTube to TV

We read in Marketing Week with much interest, that a Heineken ad, first shown on You Tube (with 8 million views plus) is now going to be screened across UK TV and cinema.

In summary, the ad plays to the much loved female cliché of having a walk-in wardrobe a la Carrie Bradshaw and sees a glamorous hostess lead her girlfriends to her newly constructed and beautifully lit wardrobe – cue squeals of excitement.

The squeals are quickly drowned out by those of the boys – for it seems that the hostess’s partner - not to be outdone - has had a walk in fridge built, stacked with ice-cold Heineken beer.

And boy can he and his mates squeal [like girls].

What interests us the most about this bold move from Heineken is that recently The Dubs heard from YouTube that a piece of content on YouTube has a higher recall percentage that the same piece of content played out on TV.

So – in pushing this YouTube success on to TV, what are the goals?

Can the ad (when placed on TV) sell more beer? Heineken probably hope so.

But for us, it’s more strategic than simply selling beer, it positions Heineken as a very forward thinking brand indeed, a brand that is comfortable with placing older, made for digital material (complete with a ready-made fan base) from YouTube on to the telly and in the process, empower a legion of YouTube fans to feel that maybe they helped get the content on to TV thanks to their engagement and advocacy of it online.

The least of their worries is wondering if people will like the ad or not – 8 million people already do.

Smart cookies.

So, in retrospect, it looks as if Heineken’s decision back in 2005 to stop producing TV ads in the UK (and diversify how they promote the Heineken brand) paid off?

They are back with a vengeance and a fan base who have already bought into the YouTube clip, made an emotional connection with the male and female characters and their respective wardrobes and by association; the Heineken brand.

They’ve even managed to produce a beer ad in which the female characters wear proper clothes (as opposed to bikinis) and one assumes they have jobs other than serving beer too? (We can but hope).

Refreshing audiences that other beers cannot reach?

Definitely.

We look forward to seeing where the ad gets placed for maximum impact on TV - and what impact it goes on to have on the YouTube figures.