Desperados Nigeria crowned Brand Builder of the Year at Heineken Commerce Week 2025

This prestigious award celebrates the profound success of Desperados Nigeria, a testament to the synergistic partnership between Nigerian Breweries and M+C Saatchi Abel, which has propelled the brand to unprecedented heights and cemented its status as the reference beer for Gen Z in Nigeria.

The recognition at Heineken's annual Commerce Week, which convenes teams worldwide to honour the past year's most significant brand successes, underscores the power of a deep and collaborative relationship. "We are ecstatic that our collaboration with the global and local brand teams has seen Desperados celebrated as Global Brand of the Year," says Dylan Kruger, strategy and Africa network director for M+C Saatchi Abel.

In a mere five years since its launch, Desperados has established itself as the go-to flavoured beer in Nigeria, with significant volume gains in the category and has emerged as the third-largest volume contributor to the global Desperados brand.

With impressive brand power growth, Desperados Nigeria successfully commands premium pricing and has become the undisputed number one flavoured alcohol brand in the country, surpassing competitors like Flying Fish and Smirnoff.

This remarkable trajectory is a direct outcome of the M+C Saatchi Abel Digital Hub's robust partnership with Heineken and Nigerian Breweries, characterised by profound collaboration and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

The critically acclaimed Desperados ‘Go for the Unusual’ campaign exemplifies the triumph of adapting global strategies to resonate deeply with local contexts.
By embracing Nigerian culture and partnering with local creatives, the campaign fostered exceptional audience engagement and achieved significant differentiation.

This innovative approach was recognised as an AME best practice and subsequently adopted in other African markets, including Ivory Coast and Tanzania, highlighting the immense value of shared learning and re-application within the Heineken network.

M+C Saatchi Abel's impactful relationship with Heineken extends across 27 markets in Africa and the Middle East, managing over 20 Heineken brands through its dedicated Heineken Digital Hub. This extensive collaboration has yielded numerous successes, including:

• Tiger, Heineken, and Desperados consistently ranking as top three global markets for Heineken in terms of volume and success.
  
• Tiger previously earning the Brand of the Year award for Nigeria at Commerce Week in 2021 and more recently in 2024 at the Nigerian Marketing Awards.
  
• Desperados' initial success in Tanzania serving as a springboard for its expansion into six African markets, with the Ivory Coast rapidly emerging as a strong contender in the flavoured alcoholic beverage (FAB) sector.
  
• The international premium category, spearheaded by M+C Saatchi Abel, is proving to be the fastest-growing and most profitable category, even against formidable competitors such as Budweiser, Flying Fish, and Castle Lite across Africa and the Middle East.
  
• The successful launch of Amstel Bright in Burundi, contributing to a significant uplift in overall Amstel volumes.
  
• Heineken Ethiopia's strategic build-out of a premium category in a market restricted to digital and BTL alcohol promotions, achieved through targeted occasion-based marketing and integrated BTL and digital initiatives.
  
• The Heineken Barbershop activation, deployed in four countries, being shortlisted for the Loeries in 2024 for Activations and Media Innovation.

This remarkable recognition for Desperados Nigeria at Heineken International Commerce Week 2025 stands as a powerful testament to the transformative impact of radical collaboration, a cornerstone of the enduring and successful partnership between M+C Saatchi Abel, Nigerian Breweries and Heineken.