Responsible marketing



 
 
The Heineken company, which traces its roots to 1864, is one of the world’s leading international brewers. Available in almost every country on the planet, the Heineken brand is the most valuable international beer brand. In achieving sustainable growth, we remain fully committed to the responsible brewing, sales and marketing of our brands. Respect for the consumer and an acknowledgement of the dangers associated with the misuse of alcohol drives us to market our products in a responsible way. And we are moving further than simply marketing our brands responsibly. We are taking significant steps towards the marketing of responsibility itself as part of the way we communicate with consumers.
 
Health is an important theme for governments, health organisations and consumers. In order to enable consumers to make the right choices, we think it is important to provide a complete and balanced view about both the alcoholic content and nutritional aspects of beer. We want to do everything we can to prevent the abuse and misuse of our products. That is why we stress the need to ‘Enjoy Heineken responsibly’. Heineken aims to provide comprehensive information about the advantages and the disadvantages of its products in order to facilitate a balanced consumer choice.
 
Through our Enjoy Heineken Responsibly programme we provide consumers with information about alcohol (www.enjoyheinekenresponsibly.com). We explain what alcohol is, and what effects it can have on your body (including your brain) if you drink too much. The website explains what ‘too much’ actually means, and how to tell when you’re in danger of drinking to excess. Bear in mind that alcohol beverages are only for consumers above the legal drinking age.
 
Consumers find practical advice about how to enjoy Heineken responsibly and useful links to other relevant websites – including research institutions and medical websites. We’ve even included a quiz to help them test their knowledge of ‘responsible drinking’.

We think it is important to inform and educate our consumers about all aspects of our products and brands. In our experience consumers have many misconceptions about beer, especially in terms of its nutritional value and calorie content. A lot of people actually think that beer is fattening and unhealthy. But these perceptions are not in line with reality. In fact, the caloric value of beer is comparable with, or less than, other beverages. Beer is also rich in proteins and contains some important vitamins.