Heineken pitches Japan creative

The full line-up of agencies is unconfirmed, but Grey Tokyo and Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon (SSF) Tokyo are believed to be among those competing for the account. Representatives from the agencies did not comment on the development.

An agency source in Japan described Heineken’s presence in the market as “quite small”. While the Dutch brewer ranks as the world’s third largest behind Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, it faces a strong challenge in a market dominated by domestic giants Asahi, Kirin, Suntory and Sapporo. Kirin and Suntory recently entered merger negotiations.

In Japan, Heineken has emphasised its recipe, which it claims has not changed for almost 150 years. It has also pushed its Extra Cold brand, which is served on draught using a specially designed cooling device.

While beer remains a popular drink in Japan, sales have dropped significantly in recent years. According to research by Euromonitor, last year’s figure of 6.3 billion litres was 11 per cent less than the sector’s peak consumption rate in 1994.