EURO RSCG New York snags Heineken, Heineken Premium Light

Just in from Advertising Age:

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Euro RSCG, which already handles Heineken USA‘s fast-growing Dos Equis brand, won the Heineken Lager and Heineken Premium Light accounts following a review involving Heineken’s existing roster shops, including incumbent Wieden & Kennedy, StrawberryFrog and TBWA/Chiat/Day.

The marketer doled more than $110 million in measured media spending last year on the brands.

Euro learned of its victory in the pitch when a Heineken beer truck arrived at the agency and began unloading beer for a victory party.

Euro takes over the brand at a difficult juncture. The recession has led many consumers to opt for less expensive beers, which has hurt imported beers generally and in particular the largest, most established brands. At the same time, however, Heineken Lager — and its larger rival, Crown Imports’ Corona Extra — are increasingly viewed by consumers as mainstream beers that have lost some of their former cache, and many import drinkers have been turning to less established brands, such as Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Stella Artois, Crown’s Modelo Especial and Heineken’s own Dos Equis instead.

Continued…

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This should be an interesting development. Do they try to bring Heineken back to more premium roots at the risk of cutting into Dos Equis, or do they embrace a more mainstream crowd?

Stay tuned (and stay thirsty)