Heineken — Brand · Innovation
ZAGG
Our Kind of Energy
An energy drink for Africa, brewed with malt for energy that lasts as long as the hustle.
Problem
Heineken wanted an energy drink for Nigeria, and then the rest of Africa. Every energy drink on the shelf sold the same imported fantasy: a quick hit of wings, raging animals and bedroom bragging, pitched at young Africans as if they were kids. None of it matched how they actually live, with long days spent building businesses, careers and side hustles.
Truth
Other energy drinks sell a quick rush. Africa’s young cities run on stamina. ZAGG is brewed with malt, a traditional African ingredient that releases energy slowly, so it lasts as long as the hustle does.
The Big Idea
“Our kind of energy”
Response
We worked with ethnographic researchers in Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt to understand what energy means to young Africans. That became ZAGG: real energy for real movers to go their own way. The brand idea: Our kind of energy. We made the name, the tagline, the strategy, the ideology, the voice and the manifesto. Next to ZAGG, every other can on the shelf looked imported.
The results
- 46% of Nigeria’s energy drink market in six months.
- Stores sold out.
- “Our kind of energy” became the launch campaign.
- Named Innovative Brand of the Year at the Industry Summit Awards 2022.
