Heineken SIlver. Extra Refreshing Taste.

Agency: Design Bridge
Creative Director: Fabio Milito

Challenge
Heineken is truly the world’s beer. But the world is changing. The next generation is less into going out, more into hanging out. Lighter, more casual and inclusive drinks are becoming the new norm.The rise in popularity of more sessionable drinks, like hard seltzers, has disrupted the beer category. Heineken decided to respond with its biggest launch in 150 years.Silver is the first Heineken lager with its own crisper, lighter, extra-refreshing taste profile and only 4% alcohol. But how does the world’s most famous name in brewing launch a beer for new drinking habits, with the same brand, across Europe?

Idea
For the launch of the most extra refreshing beer in the world, we decided to come up with the most eye-refreshing visual identity ever created for a mainstream, global beer, deliberately disrupting many category codes.

Execution
Silver is more than just a beer, it's the icon of the future generation of lager beer drinkers. Inspired by the product and led by the consumer insight, the effortless vibe of Heineken Silver comes to life in a new, flexible visual identity that, while staying true to the brand, celebrates Heineken’s most iconic assets in a new extra-refreshing way.
The new Silver icon, inspired by the legendary bottle label shape and encapsulating Heineken’s red star, has a new role but fewer rules. A bold, distinctive and ownable proxy for the brand. A window to more meaningful stories and experiences.
The flexible logo system allows freedom of expression and easily adapts to any imaginable touch point.
The role of the pattern is to visually convey a feeling of extra-refreshment. By leveraging only on the existing assets, it contributes to a single-minded approach to the Silver visual language.

Relevancy
The bold and punchy colour palette, flexible logo, bespoke Silver pattern and a new brighter photography style, instantly connects Heineken with the language, culture and drinking occasions of a younger Gen Z audience. It stretches Heineken from traditional nightlife through to more relaxed social connections. Silver is Heineken's first bold step towards a more inclusive beer world.

Impact
Launched at first in the metaverse as an impossible-to-drink virtual beer, the debut of the real thing on the shelves and on social media was a resounding success in all EU markets. Supported by many launch events and collaborations with influencers, Silver has, in less than one month, become the key Heineken proposition for all Gen Z-related occasions and festivals, which makes it their biggest launch in 150 years.