Branded Bars
Heineken has opened up a branded bar in Hong Kong International Airport. I think this is a really smart move – in most cases Heineken is dependent on bar owners/operators to serve its beer alongside a plethora of other drinks; by completely owning the bar, the whole experience becomes a Heineken one, enabling them to deepen consumer relationships with the brand by building an environment around it which is much more holistic than just the drinking experience. And airports are a perfect choice because so often airport bars are pretty grim places, so a cool bar will really stand out – it also ties in very neatly with the current campaign line ‘Meet You There’. To an extent Guinness has been doing this for years with whole ‘Irish Pub’ thing – but there it is always an ‘Oirish’ experience rather than a pure Guinness experience.
3 comments so far
Leave a reply
i agree with your post that its smart of heineken to integrate their campaign ‘meet you there’ by creating a brand experience for travellers whizzing through hk airport. however, the result is terrible in my opinion. as if heineken puked over this bar.., its too loud and outdated (remember the 80’s?). to me the result does not reflect well on heineken and i’d rather meet at the irish pub.
Some big, large airports can leave you a bit overwhelmed and bedazzled, especially after a long flight / jet lag. So seeing a famililar brand (like a branded bar) in an unfamiliar airport seems like a very good idea.
Eamon
Maurice,
I understand what you are saying. But i think this works in big airports miles away from home – airports that you are unfamiliar with and that can be a bit overwhelming for a variety of reasons (tiredness, feeling nervous about a business meeting – just a very different part of the world miles away from home).
Eamon