Heineken designed a beer for the metaverse: Silver. It began distributing it via QR codes in virtual bars, before it hit refrigerators.
Rosamaría Teviño, brand manager of Heineken Mexico, said in an interview with Expansión that, although it seemed absurd to launch a product that cannot be tasted in the metaverse, the company decided to take the digital world as a starting point to introduce its new product, aimed at young consumers.
“We know that the virtual world can be very innovative and novel for young consumers and we wanted to try this way of communicating with them,” he says. “We know that technology evolves very quickly for certain things and consumers increasingly demand more points of contact and connection”, he adds.
In the strategy designed by Heineken, consumers had to go through portals with immersive experiences that led to clues to discover the new beer, a proposal with less bitterness, lighter and with lower degrees of alcohol, thanks to a “lagering” process at less a degree.
Heineken Mexico is targeting the development of new beverages with a clear commitment to the light category. “The beer industry is very large and we have consumers of various types. There is a niche that is looking for a refreshing drink”, he refers.
Light beers and non-alcoholic beers are gaining a global market. This segment is the one that grows the most: from 2016 to 2021, its consumption increased from 17.4 million liters of beer to 29.5 million liters, with a historical growth of 69.2%, according to data from Euromonitor International.
“The biggest driver of the consumer is the issue of flavor: in which brand does he find a flavor and a proposal that catches his attention and that coincides with his interests,” says Treviño.
In Mexico, the light and non-alcoholic category increased its value in Mexico and went from 24.8 million dollars in 2016 to 50.5 million dollars in 2021, with a growth of 103.7%. This increase exceeds that of lager beers, which was 33.1%, and that of the entire category, which stood at 33.2%.
No longer considered a beer company but a beverage company, Heineken is not only looking for new flavor alternatives, but also new marketing strategies.
“We know that the most important moments of drinking a beer are in a physical environment, on social occasions, with friends, work colleagues, with family or as a couple. What we wanted was to play with this analogy of being present in those virtual moments, but to be very clear that for Heineken Silver the important thing is the real moments of consumption”, declares the director of the brewing group.
Héctor Gutiérrez, founding partner of Inmersys, believes that the brands that generate experiences around their product are the ones that create community. And the metaverse is becoming a key tool to generate community in the digital world, which is becoming increasingly important for young consumers.
“The brands and companies that are capable of generating experiences in the metaverse will be the ones that manage to connect faster with the new generations of consumers,” said Gutiérrez, during a press conference.
The market value of the metaverse is estimated at $100.27 billion for this year and Fortune Business Insights is projected to grow to $1,527.55 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 47.6%.
Rosamaría Teviño explains that being in the metaverse allowed Heineken to “speak the same language” as consumers who are around 24 years old and who are digital natives. “It went beyond just having our logo, we were able to generate conversation around the launch of the drink.”
