Tecate Light Emerges As The Fastest Growing Light Beer In The U.S. Versus Its Competitors [1]; Prepares To Soar To New Heights With National Distribution, New Cans And Campaign

NEW YORK, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Tecate, the Mexican beer with bold flavor, announced a nationwide expansion of Tecate Light. The light beer had previously focused distribution to the Sunbelt states, where it had 47% year-over-year growth. Tecate Light has since become the fastest growing light beer in the U.S. versus its competitors.²

Additionally, Tecate is launching the next iteration of "Born Bold," taking the successful advertising campaign introduced in 2015 national to align with the new distribution.  The refreshed 39-week campaign will include English and Spanish broadcast, OOH, PR, digital and #BornBold social activations. New TV spots made a limited debut online and through select Hispanic TV on March 28^th in the Sunbelt states, with the full campaign launching today on national broadcast.

"The success Tecate Light saw in 2015 has set our brand up for an even bigger year in 2016," said Belen Pamukoff, Brand Director, Tecate. "For the first time ever, the entire United States can taste one of Mexico's most popular light beers while seeing our masculine Black Eagle as he takes flight across the country through the 'Born Bold' campaign."

Created by Tecate with Saatchi & Saatchi NY, the two 30-second TV spots once again put the spotlight on the brand's protagonist, the Black Eagle, while highlighting the two biggest passion points of Tecate's bi-cultural Hispanic consumer – soccer and boxing.

• In "Red Card," the Black Eagle comes face-to-face with famed Mexican soccer referee Felipe Ramos Rizo, empowering him to make the bold, right decision.
• Through "Flashy," Tecate highlights its new partnership with Mexican super star Canelo Alvarez, while putting its fearless icon center stage (or ring), as he inspires Canelo to ditch the bling and stay true to his roots.

The latter spot showcases the first time the brand has endorsed an individual fighter, and will be heavily promoted leading into Canelo's first fight of 2016 against Amir Khan on May 7^th in Las Vegas, as well as in advance of his future 2016 fights.

"We're excited to continue unveiling the character of the Black Eagle, allowing him to spread his wings and explore new scenarios that we know are relevant to Tecate drinkers and their friends. Situations as bold as the flavor of the beer," said Jay Benjamin, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi NY.

Aligned with the national expansion, Tecate and Tecate Light will also unveil dynamic new contemporary packaging, amplifying modern masculinity to appeal to 21+ millennial consumers. Retaining the brand essence, the redesign was led by global agency Elmwood, the world's most effective brand design consultancy.

The new design includes a makeover of the iconic Black Eagle, broadening his shoulders, puffing out his T-emblazoned chest, placing him on a modernized Tecate word marque, as well as the addition of Spirit Eagles – individual eagles that express the personality of both Tecate Original and Tecate Light and can be seen in the background of the can. Elmwood also added a modern silver strip that cuts through the center of the design, creating a visually striking, refreshing and unifying contrast with each product's respective color (Original – red; Light – blue).

"Tecate has a history of innovation dating back to 1949, when we launched the first canned beer in Mexico," said Felix Palau, Vice President, Tecate.  "The redesign of our renowned red can will open up the Tecate franchise in the US to a new wave of consumers, in fact, since launching the new look in Mexico this past July, we have already seen double digit second half growth in the country."

For additional details on Tecate Light's "Born Bold" campaign, the new packaging or to speak with a Tecate Light representative about the brand, please contact BRAYA at [email protected]. Tecate B-roll is available for download here.

About HEINEKEN USA
HEINEKEN USA Inc., the nation's leading upscale beer importer, is a subsidiary of HEINEKEN NV, the world's most international brewer. Core brands imported into the U.S. are Heineken^®, the world's most international premium beer brand, the Dos Equis franchise, the Tecate franchise and Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders. HEINEKEN USA also imports Amstel Light, Newcastle Brown Ale, Red Stripe, Sol, Indio, Carta Blanca and Bohemia brands. For the latest information on our company and brands, follow us on Twitter @HeinekenUSACorp, or visit HEINEKENUSA.com.

Creative Credits:

Client: Tecate Light

Campaign Title: Born Bold

Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi

Agency Location: New York

Chief Creative Officer: Jay Benjamin                  

Creative Director: Iain Neville               

Creative Director: Johnnie Ingram       

Associate Creative Director: Ross Wollinsky  

Art Director: Ryan Gifford                       

Copywriter: Devin McGillivary             

Head of Film: John Doris

Senior Producer: Tina Lam                     

Producer: Frances Edwards    

Group Account Director: Parker Barnum        

Management Supervisor: Jamie Daigle                              

Account Executive: Stacey Skulnik                     

Planning Director: Federico Evangelista          

Production company: Hungry Man

Director: Dave Laden

DP: Corey Walter

Executive Producer: Kevin Byrne

Producer: Caleb Dewart

Service company: Tonic Films

Executive Producer: Susie Neill

Editorial: Cosmo Street Editorial

Editor: Aaron Langley

Executive Producer: Maura Woodward

Senior Producer: Luiza Naritomi

Assistant Editor: Josh Berger

Finishing House: Switch FX

Audio: Butter + Mr Bronx

Mixer/Sound Designer: Eric Hoffman

Producer: Claudia Gaspar

Music: Butter

Managing Director/Executive Producer: Ian Jeffreys

Producer: Ryan Faucett

Color: Company 3

Colorist: Tom Poole

Producer: Clare Movshon

Visual Effects: Method Studios

SVP Business Development: Stuart Robinson

Executive Producer: Angela Lupo

Producer: Heather Saunders

VFX Supervisor: Doug Luka

CG Supervisor: Ivan Guerrero

Compositing Supervisor: Ryan Leonard

Animation Supervisor: Matthew Hackett

Lead Rigger: Joon Lee

Lead FX TD: Tomas Slancik

Lead Lighting/Shading: Yuri Serizawa

Modeling/Tracking Lead: Brian Dinoto

Production TD: Matt Kushner

Massive TD: Rick Walia

Texturing: Sari Rodrig, Lauren Kushner

Animators: Matt Hackett, Joon Lee, Paul Wei, Rob Dollase, Sean Curran

FX Artists: Tomas Slancik, Matt Kushner, Zach Lewis, Vraja Para

Lighting: Yuri Serizawa, Ben Jones, Jon Parker, Vraja Para, Zach Lewis, Lucy Choi

Compositing: Ryan Leonard, Robert "Nick" Dauphinais, Chad Herrada, John Mangia, Aaron Baker

* We'd like to add a special thank you to Eugene Butta of the New York State Falconry Association for allowing us to film his hawks for reference and his insight into the anatomy of raptors as well as the US Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Services for giving us permission to use feather scans.

^{1 & 2} Heineken calculation based in part on data reported by Nielsen through its Scantrack Service for the Light beer category for the 52-week period ending February 27, 2016, for the FDCM+ market according to the Nielsen standard product hierarchy.  Copyright © 2016, The Nielsen Company.

Video - http://youtu.be/89xIZTWZ2x0

Video - https://youtu.be/O2Ip6bK045U

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160408/353307

Logo - https://photos.prnewswire.com/prnvar/20160218/335003LOGO

SOURCE HEINEKEN USA Inc.