White Plains, N.Y.-based Heineken USA announced it is upping the stakes on game day with its What’s Your Play? retail program that will run from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28. The comprehensive program includes eye-catching football-themed point-of-sale (POS) materials, digital partnerships, a Twitter-driven sweepstakes and cross-merchandising opportunities to inspire men of legal drinking age around the world to up their game by choosing Heineken, Heineken Light, Dos Equis, Tecate, Tecate Light and Strongbow Hard Ciders for their game day celebrations, the company says.

Last season’s What’s Your Play? saw success with numerous shopper impressions and a 1 percent lift across the portfolio. Leveraging this success, Heineken is offering bigger challenges, bigger prizes and new ways to answer What’s Your Play? this football season, it adds.

“Men aren’t looking for a beer that says they’re an expert on football,” said Ralph Rijks, senior vice president of marketing at Heineken USA, in a statement. “In fact, the Heineken drinker loves the opportunity for a get together with friends that the game provides as much as the game itself. The What’s Your Play? program inspires men to choose Heineken USA’s premium import brands to share with friends and elevate their game day experience.”

To kick off the program, consumers are invited to follow @WhatsYourPlay on Twitter. On football game days, portfolio brands and @WhatsYourPlay will ask fans to share their best plays for life’s daily challenges. Fans can reply via Twitter with their entries for a chance to win prizes and receive a digital coupon, via return tweet, driving them back in store for additional purchase. 

To drive awareness of the program, Heineken USA says it will incorporate strategic digital partnerships. Native ads and videos on mobile apps, such as Ibotta and Yelp, help to get Heineken on the shopping list for the big game party and drive traffic in-store, the company says. Unique HUSA football-themed invites also will be available for consumers to get the word out about their game day celebrations through E-vite, it adds.

In store, dynamic POS will encourage shoppers to choose Heineken USA brands for their game day festivities and follow @WhatsYourPlay on Twitter to participate in giveaways. The company will use cross-merchandising offers such as instant redeemable coupons and merchant initiated returns (where legal) to deliver shopper value with discounts on party essentials including chips, dips and deli platters, to drive increased basket rings at retail.

“What’s Your Play is a winning proposition for retailers,” Rijks added. “This year’s program elements are designed to not only generate higher basket rings during patron’s shopping experience, but also offer compelling incentives to return to the store for repeat purchases throughout the program period.”