Dive Brief:

• Want a free beer? If you live in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston or Chicago, Heineken USA wants to buy you a Heineken, Heineken Light or a Dos Equis.
• The campaign is being run on Facebook and Twitter. It includes sending a link to of-age participants’ smartphones that let them visit a selected bar and receive a free beer.
• The beverage brand also recently changed its global advertising agency from Wiedon+Kennedy to Publicis Groupe.

Dive Insight:

Heineken USA’s latest social media campaign is offering Facebook and Twitters users in four cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Chicago – an opportunity to receive a free beer from the brewing company. The campaign lets user of legal drinking age enter their mobile phone numbers, which then generates a link to a site where they can choose a nearby bar and with a code they can show servers they can redeem a free Heineken, Heineken Light or Dos Equis. The three-digit code has an expiration date and can only be used by one person one time. 

“Heineken has always put a premium on reaching customers in innovative ways, and we’re truly excited about this partnership [with Gratafy],” Ron Amram, senior media director of Heineken USA, said in a statement. “Facebook and Twitter are areas … our customers frequent the most … we’re connecting with them in arguably their most social setting, to offer a complimentary” beverage.

The technology behind the campaign is provided by Gratafy, and the campaign is being promoted through paid media on the social media networks.