HEINEKEN HAS extended its worldwide partner status with the Rugby World Cup for a further four years through the 2015 tournament in England, taking the brand’s investment in rugby to well over €100m ($138m), Frontiers can reveal.
Speaking to Frontloaded ahead of the unveiling of the renewal in New Zealand, Hans Erik Tuijt, global brand activation manager for Heineken, said that the investment in rugby and subsequent activation has led to Heineken being the number one beer brand associated with the sport.
Similarly, Tuijt believes that following the end of the current Rugby World Cup, Heineken will be the number one brand associated with the tournament, making them more recognisable in the rugby community than other worldwide partner brands such as MasterCard, Emirates and DHL.
Beginning its sponsorship of both the domestic European Cup (the Heineken Cup as it is now known) and the Rugby World Cup in 1995, Heineken’s association with rugby will extend to twenty years come 2015.
“It is about reinforcing our brand to consumers,” said Tuijt on Heineken’s strategic approach to rugby sponsorship. “Fans know about Heineken; it is an established brand in the rugby world, so our reason to continue the partnership is to engage people and consolidate our reputation.
“By comparison, our UEFA Champions League sponsorship approach is different; it’s unique to each market. The Champions League runs over eight months and is broadcast in over 200 countries. Therefore, in some markets our activation is about engaging the fans, whereas in others it is simply about brand awareness.”
Despite refusing to be drawn on any hard figures about Heineken’s Champions League spend, Tuijt hinted towards a far greater sum than its total rugby investment. “It is a much bigger market,” he said. “Our Champions League sponsorship has greater activation and appeals to a much larger audience, so naturally it is going to cost a lot more.”
Frontiers research suggests that the latest renewal for Heineken’s Champions League agreement is worth in the region of €160m over four seasons between 2011 and 2014.
Heineken’s activation around this year’s Rugby World Cup has featured an increased digital presence with their online initiative, ‘This is The Game’, receiving over one million views across its social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Tuijt insists however, that Heineken’s digital activation at the 2015 World Cup will be of even greater importance to ensure fan engagement.
“The digital era is moving so fast so it is difficult to say how we will implement a strategy for 2015,” he explained. “But in two years time, two years before the tournament, we will be looking to create digital content that will engage the fans even more so than in 2011.”
The renewed agreement with Rugby World Cup was brokered by Heineken, with all subsequent activation to be managed by London-based sponsorship agency, Pitch.
By Luke Harman