CHEERS

says goodbye to TVCs In the UK Heineken has decided to shift its £6.5m advertising budget away from TV and rather invest in sports sponsorships and point-of-sale promotions. Rob Marijnen, managing director of Heineken UK explains on Times Online: "The enormously cluttered environment in TV ads makes it difficult to make standout ads. It's also very expensive and it's questionable as to its effectiveness." Media fragmentation makes it difficult to target Heineken's core market (18 to 26 years old) through TV ads and buying airtime is getting more and more expensive. These are basically the reasons that convinced the Dutch brand to look for new solutions in advertising. Who will follow?