As chief marketing officer of Heineken USA, Alison Payne is on a mission to deliver “the joy of true togetherness.” This approach is serving the company: Heineken was just named Global Brand of the Year at Cannes Lions.
“We believe the strongest brands are those that create emotional connections, and for us, that means creating experiences that enable a more refreshing social life. Our Fans Have More Friends platform is at the heart of this notion and puts our creative through our fan-first lens.”
As the Official Beer of Soccer, the Heineken brand has been showing up all summer with fan-focused engagements including its Fan Volunteer platform which encourages employees to sign up for local volunteer opportunities during game days to get off of work to volunteer in their communities on game days, so they can also catch a match. The beer brand also collaborated with Heinz on a co-branded six-pack – a bottle of ketchup with five bottles of beer.
“Whether we are activating premium experiences at F1, Coachella, or around soccer, our fans-first storytelling lens focuses on the joy that comes from those shared experiences,” explains Payne. “Our campaigns are designed to champion the fan, positioning Heineken as the ultimate facilitator of those unforgettable, shared moments.”
Prior to joining Heineken in 2018, Payne spent five years at PepsiCo and four at Kellogg’s. She began her career at Diageo London where she spent more than a decade working on brands including: Smirnoff and Guinness. Brand Innovators caught up with Payne to discuss how. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the strategy behind being the official beer of soccer and your Fan Volunteers campaign?
Soccer has been in our DNA for a long time with our longstanding partnerships with UEFA and MLS, establishing our title as the official beer of soccer in a year when soccer fandom is bigger in the US than ever before was paramount. We are active participants and champions of soccer and fan culture.
What stood out to us as we planned the year wasn’t just how passionate fans are about soccer, but the lengths they’re willing to go to be part of the experience.
Discovering that over half of office professionals have actually skipped or bent the truth at work just to catch a game really highlights a major tension – people’s responsibilities and passions often conflict.
That’s exactly where our “Fan Volunteers” program comes into play, rooted in the core idea that “Fans Have More Friends.” We recognized that while many employees already have access to Volunteer Time Off (VTO) programs through their employers, those hours often go unused. We saw an opportunity to connect those two realities in a way that benefits everyone. By giving fans the framework to bond over shared service projects before they bond over the game, we can turn ordinary downtime into something socially impactful. This collective togetherness and positive impact is the ultimate expression of what Heineken stands for.
Why is it important for your brand to play at the World Cup?
Heineken’s presence in the world of soccer really comes down to future-forward vision. We recognized the potential of soccer long before its current surge in popularity here in the States, where we’ve seen America’s love for the game growing 400% in the past year alone. We invested early through sustained partnerships across global and local stages, including MLS and UEFA, to embed ourselves within the culture of the game.
Heineken has become a natural part of how fans experience the sport, which is what actually allowed the brand to take a bold step when we successfully trademarked the ‘Official Beer of Soccer.’ That trademark is coming to life in a major way this year as soccer dominates the cultural conversation. From our Fan Volunteers program to our bar finder tool that helps you find the best spots to watch the match, it’s important that we show up to enhance the moment around soccer being shared with others. We even intercepted overnight when the Tartan Army essentially depleted all of the beer in Boston, in less than 24 hours our Fan Rescue initiative ensured the Tartan fans would be ready to clink during their match the next day.
How do you see culture as a growth engine?
We see culture as a long-term investment, rather than a singular, short-term catalyst for growth. At Heineken USA, our approach always starts with meeting our consumers exactly where they are, because we believe the strongest brands are the ones that create an authentic connection. For us, that means moving beyond mere visibility and sponsorships. Instead, we actively create spaces where fans can authentically connect over shared passions, and shared beers.
We’re about to celebrate another wonderful year of partnership with the US Open, which is one we’ve maintained for over 30 years. That event has always been about generating social energy and giving fans a new way to connect over a shared fandom and experience. By helping turn spontaneous interactions into lasting connections, we move past just participating in those cultural moments and instead play a meaningful role in shaping the experience and creating lasting cultural impact. As Freddy Heineken used to say, we don’t sell beer, we sell good times. So whether it’s the biggest national moments or hyper-local community experiences, we’re staying present, accessible, and relevant to how consumers want to gather today.
How are you breaking through in a fragmented landscape?
To truly break through today, you have to move past traditional sponsorship assets and create an experience that everyone could actively participate in. We want to ensure we’re challenging the status quo and approaching cultural, fan-filled moments with a new spin that elevates them, not interrupts them. Our Heineken Fan Volunteers initiative is a prime example of this in action. It acts as a functional utility for fans during a massive cultural moment. By helping fans navigate their demanding work schedules, prioritize togetherness, and give back to their communities, we invite them to actively participate in our brand story rather than just observe it.
It’s no longer just about watching a game. It’s about that real world camaraderie and excitement that brings fans together in the first place. When a brand can provide actual value to a consumer’s lifestyle, you don’t have to worry about fragmented algorithms, the experience itself becomes the anchor. That’s the core of our “Fans Have More Friends” platform, building the real-world connections that traditional advertising can’t replicate.
How do you build consumer love?
Consumer love is built through trust and shared values. We build that love by showing up consistently and authentically meeting our consumers exactly where they are. When we launch something like our Fan Volunteers program or tap into massive moments like soccer, we aren’t just putting our logo on a stadium banner. We are actively solving consumer tension by helping them find a way to balance their lives and their values with their passions.
When a brand acts as a true facilitator of real-world connections, you move past transactional marketing and become part of our consumers’ lifestyle. Whether we are offering choice with Heineken 0.0 and Serena Williams, or building immersive spaces at F1, consumer love ultimately comes down to one thing: enhancing the moments our consumers care about most and creating an emotional connection with the brand for them.
Can you talk about how working for companies such as Diageo, Kellogg’s and Pepsi helped shape your perspective in your current role?
I have had the privilege of working on iconic brands across food and beverages, from Guinness to Special K and Lay’s and Doritos. My perspective on working on these brands is that going back to the fundamentals matters, knowing what the brand stands for in the hearts and heads of the consumer and then showing up in a relevant way consistently. We need to get in consumers’ heads but equally get in their hands at the point of purchase so connecting everything we do through the line matters.
Are there any marketing challenges keeping you up at night?
How do we continue to move at the speed of culture? There are so many ways to connect with our consumers across platforms and increasingly with creators and influencers who are outside our full control. Learning to let go of some of the control but keeping true to our brand is a challenge.
