Marketing Genius is a series created by BuzzFarmers to give virtual high fives to anyone who develops a unique (and brilliant) marketing idea worth talking about.
When Heineken took a step back from their holiday marketing and considered that it’d be really easy to tell people to “Drink Heineken” but harder to convince them to actually do it, they must have stopped and paused a bit longer than other beer companies.
Touching on the guilt that most people have around the holiday season every time they buy something for themselves, Heineken partnered with Krups to create BeerTender alongside a Facebook application (BeerFriender) that encourages you to “gift” a BeerTender to a random Facebook stranger.
According to the promotion, in return, that person will quietly also “gift” one to you; thus eliminating the potential guilt of buying for yourself.
This is a bit genius, because Heineken knows they can’t sell beer on Facebook, but they can still put themselves in front of everyone, making a clever impression without it.
And of course, according to their Terms of Use, “the Application enables you receive, upload, and share information and content about Heineken, the Heineken BeerTender®, and other Heineken products and services.” Not a bad exchange, especially not for Krups, who’s likely taking a bulk of the sale with no necessary marketing on their part.
The only thing? We’re not sure it truthfully pairs anyone with anyone else. According to their sales page, “When you use BeerFriender to buy a BeerTender for yourself, it arrives gift-wrapped and with a fancy card, so it looks like a gift from someone else.” So eliminating the guilt of explaining to your partner or spouse? Sure. Knowing that little Jimmy gets one less present because of your addiction to shiny beer-drinking paraphernalia? That one’s on you!
