Heineken Signs Formula One Deal

09 Jun 2016 | tshego

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Heineken and Formula One Management have reached an agreement for Heineken to become a global partner of Formula One.

The partnership will begin this year at the newly renamed Formula One Gran Premio Heineken D’Italia 2016 in Monza as part of a five-year deal.

From the 2017 season onwards, Heineken will be the event title partner of three Formula One Grand Prix and have significant presence at several additional events chosen by Heineken and Formula One Management.

Heineken will be the exclusive global beer partner of the race series and have pouring, activation and access rights across most Formula One events in the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The beer brand will create an integrated Formula One ‘Open Your World’ and ‘If You Drive, Never Drink’ campaigns. Activations will include circuit branding, TV adverts, digital activations, live fan events, dedicated PR initiatives and packaging/point of sale activations. It will also see David Coulthard and Sir Jackie Stewart become ambassadors.

Gianluca Di Tondo, senior director global Heineken brand at Heineken, said: “Formula One is bigger than a race. It is a global event. Formula One represents a unique opportunity for Heineken to engage with existing and potential consumers in important growth markets. Formula One delivers in three specific areas; strong commercial opportunities; expansion of our responsible drinking platform in new and innovative ways; and enabling skill transfers between Formula One and our employees.”

He added: “This partnership complements our existing global platforms, enabling us to reach Formula One’s huge spectator numbers and 400 million unique television viewers every year. The hallmark of our long and successful relationships with UEFA Champions League, Rugby World Cup and the James Bond franchise is our passion to excite our consumers. We will be bringing this passion to Formula One.”

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group, said: “Heineken is a premium international brand with a super reputation for first class marketing. I am very pleased to welcome them to the Formula One family and look forward to the scale and quality of their activation at and away from Formula One Events. We are both in the innovation and enjoyment business and I hope that this is the start of a long and special relationship. When I have a beer, I have always been happy with a Heineken”.