- Heineken® global brand strategy proven highly effective by Interbrand 2011 Best Global Brands report
Amsterdam, 4 October 2011 - HEINEKEN today announced that according to Interbrand's 2011 report on the Best Global Brands, the Heineken® brand has experienced significant growth in brand value over 2011 in an increasingly global marketplace. Heineken's brand value amounted to $3,809 million, an increase of close to $300 million compared to 2010. The Heineken® brand, ranked on position 91, achieved a growth of 8% compared to 2010 and more than 60% growth since 2005. Additionally, it is the only beer brand in the top 100 of the world's most valuable brands.

Chief Commercial Officer of HEINEKEN, Alexis Nasard, commented: "I am extremely pleased to see that our centrally managed global brand strategy is truly paying off. We are continuously investing in powerful brand positioning that engages our consumers all over the world in the most optimal way. We constantly ask ourselves: are we part of their conversation? To be able to answer that question we have created one global execution platform in design, innovation, activation and communication."

Nasard continued: "Over the last twelve months, we have created award winning online and offline advertising campaigns; dominated the digital space where our consumers spend their time (Facebook, Google, YouTube etc.); harmonised our product design to ensure our customer experience is the same everywhere around the globe; extended our successful partnership with the UEFA Champions League, and we have kept on investing in innovative product and marketing concepts. It is great to see that these integrated efforts have now translated into a Heineken brand value increase of almost $300 million, leading to a total 2011 Heineken brand value of over $3.8 billion."

Heineken outperforms category
Interbrand stated in its 2011 report: In 2011 Heineken has significantly outperformed its global brewing competitor brands. Competitor Budweiser kept its brand value steady and Corona managed a growth in brand value of 2%. With 8% growth in 2011, Heineken is growing at a pace that much closer resembles the 2011 performance of luxury spirit brands, such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Moët & Chandon, than its brewing rivals. The brand has created over 60% growth in brand value since 2005, a fact that is even more impressive when you consider that Budweiser managed an increase of 3% in the same period. Heineken's push to become a truly global brand is clearly paying off in real value for the business.

About Interbrand's Best Global Brands report
2011 marks the 11th publication of Interbrand's annual ranking of the world's most valuable brands. For full information on this year's ranking and Interbrand's brand valuation methodology please see www.BestGlobalBrands.com.