Heinekin drives responsibility message home

Heineken and Alert Taxi’s took to Auckland streets today to encourage Rugby World Cup 2011 fans to take a ‘sober driver’ home during the busiest stage of the tournament.

Alert Taxi’s are now sporting a ‘let a sober driver take you home’ message across the rear half of their cars until the close of Rugby World Cup 2011 thanks to Heineken.

The campaign is part of a wider ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’ programme that Heineken, a Worldwide Partner and the Official Beer of Rugby World Cup 2011, developed specifically for the tournament.

Stage one kicked off last month with a television commercial airing across all channels, in stadia, Fanzones and aligned bars. Heineken and Alert Taxi’s have also printed close to 100,000 cards carrying the same message, with Alert Taxi’s phone number. The cards have been distributed at Eden Park, aligned bars and the Heineken World Bar in Shed 10 on Queen’s Wharf.

And the campaign seems to be paying off.

More than 300,000 people visited Queen’s Wharf during the first three weeks of Rugby World Cup resulting in a marked increased in taxi usage.

Alert Taxi’s company director, Robert Van Heiningen, says anecdotal evidence gained from the industry shows taxi usage increased by 30% in September across the Auckland region compared to the same period last year.

DB Breweries’ managing director, Brian Blake, says it’s extremely encouraging to see Aucklanders and visitors are doing the right thing and utilising taxis to get around the city, especially during such a celebratory period as Rugby World Cup 2011.

“Rugby World Cup 2011 is all about enjoyment and hopefully the remainder of the tournament will be as successful as the first half. We hope our Heineken branded ‘sober driver’ taxi’s continue to drive the message home about drinking responsibly and planning transportation if you are intending to drink.”

Mr Van Heiningen says Alert Taxi’s are proud to be associated with a company that takes corporate responsibility seriously.

“As a major global brand the effort Heineken has taken to promote this is heartening and we have been very impressed with the commitment to ensuring as many people as possible are communicated by this message.”

Taxi Impact, the media supplier of the branded taxi’s, says they are equally proud to have worked with Heineken, DB and Sparkphd to help bring this campaign to Auckland.

Taxi Impact's company director, Tim Dove says, "with a large portion of taxi fares being before and after entertainment, using taxi’s is the perfect medium for this responsible message."

Mr Blake says Heineken appreciates the support of Alert and its drivers and their commitment to ensuring people get home safely during Rugby World Cup 2011.

“Heineken takes its role as an alcohol producer extremely seriously and it’s encouraging to see others share our responsibility commitment.”

Mr Blake says Heineken is now working on a separate campaign for the Christmas period to ensure the positive message around not drinking and driving continues.

“In the meantime, we hope fans continue to act responsibly and enjoy what is arguably the best-ever Rugby World Cup.”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Heineken’s ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’ campaign is a global initiative to inform and educate consumers about the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol. As well as ‘Enjoy Responsibly’ messaging on all Heineken promotional material, the brand also operates www.enjoyheinekenresponsibly.com which is full of practical information, advice and useful guidelines about enjoying Heineken responsibly.

DB, Heineken’s New Zealand brewer, is equally committed to encouraging the safe and responsible consumption of its products. DB was the first brewer to air a drink responsibly television commercial with mainstream beer brand, DB Draught. DB has worked recently with other Rugby World Cup 2011 stakeholders, including the New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Economic Development, Councils and Rugby New Zealand 2011 to ensure people are encouraged to act responsibly in their consumption of alcohol in stadia and Fanzones during the Tournament. DB also jointly owns www.drinkresponsibly.co.nz and through an alcohol levy funds the Alcohol Advisory Council.