- Heineken has named WPP as global agency partner for shopper marketing and commerce across its beer portfolio, according to a press release.
- VML Amsterdam, based near the Dutch brewer’s headquarters, will lead the account team. The work encompasses below-the-line marketing, including in-bar, retail and e-commerce activities, in addition to shopping integrations around Heineken sponsorships equivalent to Formula 1 and the UEFA Champions League.
- WPP Open, the ad-holding group’s artificial intelligence-powered operating system, will play a key role in supporting those functions. The appointment expands the brand’s existing relationship with WPP, which is pushing for a return to growth.
WPP is deepening its ties to Heineken, with a give attention to leveraging its AI muscle to enhance shopper marketing and e-commerce activities for the worldwide brewer. The account, based out of WPP’s Amsterdam Campus, covers products including the core Heineken line, nonalcoholic Heineken 0.0 and lightweight lager Heineken Silver.
The relationship will lean heavily on WPP Open, which has received a hefty amount of investment from the agency network because it looks to keep pace in an emerging tech arms race amongst marketing services providers. WPP Open has integrated technology from leading generative AI developers, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google Gemini. Other CPGs have recently touted scalable use cases for AI, equivalent to creating “digital twins” of products that may cut down production time and costs and simplify cross-channel marketing.
Heineken already works with WPP shops like Ogilvy and Design Bridge and Partners, the latter of which assisted with the brand’s 150-year anniversary campaign in 2023.
“We were impressed by WPP’s deep capabilities in shopper marketing, including their ability to drive higher efficiencies through WPP Open, underpinned by advanced AI,” said Rutger van der Stegen, global head of below-the-line marketing on the Heineken brand, in an announcement across the news.
The expanded WPP work comes at a time of fast change for the beer industry. Consumers increasingly are flocking to zero-alcohol or better-for-you options, after they’re choosing beer in any respect. Delivery platforms have made e-commerce a more viable sales channel, but one where alcohol brands face tighter restrictions than other CPGs on the promoting front. WPP will even get to assist Heineken because it strategizes around leading sponsorships, including deals with red-hot F1, the Champions League and live music events.
At the identical time, beer is subject to fierce headwinds amid a mounting trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose steep tariffs on European alcohol could roil the category, which can also be contending with higher duties on crucial manufacturing materials like aluminum.
Still, the news marks a win for WPP amid a difficult period. The group earlier this month lost the North American media and data business for The Coca-Cola Company to rival Publicis Groupe, a serious blow. WPP reported that like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs, its essential measure of organic growth, slid 2.3% in Q4 2024 while declining 1% on the complete 12 months. The firm expects 2025 revenue to land somewhere within the range of being flat to down 2% as macroeconomic uncertainty intensifies.
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