Heineken, the Dutch brewer, on Friday will launch a new £5.5m advertising campaign featuring Ray Liotta, star of Goodfellas, in a bid to revive falling sales following its decision to scrap its Cold-Filtered standard strength lager.
Sales volumes are currently at around a fifth of previous highs, after the group ditched its standard strength 3.4% ABV drink to bring the UK in line with the other 170 countries where the beer is sold. All Heineken sold in the UK will now be the premium-strength lager with an ABV of 5%.
The new adverts are designed to alert the public to the change in Heineken, and refresh the image of the brand. Leslie Meredith, Heineken UK's marketing director, said it had been a "tough decision" to give up the £500m of sales the cold-filtered lager attracted but it was the "right decision to preserve the integrity of the brand."
