“I’m sorry, I have to go”, followed by any inventiveness, it is the formula that uses Spaniards at the time of escaping to go to see football. This is what it now reveals “Bars and excuses”a Heinken survey developed by the market research company Kuo Experience, within the framework of the sponsorship that maintains the beer brand with the UEFA Champions League.

The study outlined the European competition as a kind of guilty pleasure that invites you to lie almost with anything. “Will Spanish fans put excuses so as not to miss these games?”Heineken asks in a press release. And the answer is affirmative. Among the more than 800 fans surveyed, 58% have ever put excuses to see the Champions.

The most repeated is to go “To the Emergency Department for a contracture”followed by “To my house because I have leaks”and “To a friend’s house to help you with the move”. The most daring blame the dentist, the mother -in -law, the veterinarian or even his superiors at work.

All these data have served to feed Heinken’s last action in Spain. Designed by the Creative Agency I pubtake as reference the excuses of the study to rename different bars from Madrid and Barcelona. The objective is to take advantage of the fact that in these cities the return games of Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona will be played, to connect with customers.

“Heineken continues to accompany fans to make each game of the Champions League a unique experience”, Explains Marta Moreno, Heineken Manager Marketing in Spain. “While the survey is only a sample, confirms the deep passion of the true Champions fans, probably more than for any other competition in the world”

The aforementioned study, in addition to testing the passion of the Spaniards for the king sport, has also allowed to know interesting data on consumption habits. For example, that 9 out of 10 fans claim to see games at home, mainly accompanied, and that 4 out of 10 go to bars. As for women, 44% prefer See football in bars and accompaniedand 57% of them go to these for the environment and the emotion of the parties.

In general, men tend to see solo games and Women in companyboth in bars and at home. “This reinforces the idea that football for many women has a stronger social component, while for men it can be both social and individual experience”, Indicates the brand.

Unwavering support for hospitality

In recent years, Heineken has become one of the most close to bars; both at the level of promotion and business support. Thus, after the first confinement of the Covid-19 Pandemia, they promoted the return to the hospitality industry with “Back to the Bars” (#Fuerzabar in Spain).

More recently, the brand reactivated this same campaign to support the hospitality affected by La Dana in Valencia. What was a contribution of six million euros to supply the affected stores with free products, repair damaged facilities and financially support bars.