How to innovate for a brand, in a traditional category like beer? Heineken was looking for ways to guide its innovation activities and align these with their new purpose and business objectives. The goal: stand out from competition and win the hearts of consumers with truly innovative solutions.

We decided to explore what lies beyond the core of the brand and connect it to trends in- and outside the beer category. We did a broad trend analysis and mapped those trends onto the 3 pillars of the Heineken purpose. Then, we combined trends to identify potential innovation platforms. These platforms were validated with internal stakeholders and prioritised on their impact on consumers and business. We finally developed the platforms into innovation briefings. We mapped the platforms.

This led to clear new paths of growth and innovation for Heineken. The core insight: to become a Modern Day Brewer by combining tradition and innovation within the category. For three of the platforms, follow-up projects were started, creating new energy and delivering fresh solutions.