We started working with a bunch of new clients in the last three months many of whom were attracted to the concept of Marketing as Service.  In each case, we were able to come up with an idea that met their marketing objectives and provided real value or utility to their customers or prospects. So far, so good. That said, we are also aware that there may be marketing challenges out there that simply can’t be solved via Marketing as Service.For example, I’ve wondered to myself if Marketing as Service could be applied to the beer category. Budweiser created an online comedy channel, the would be service of entertainment had anyone actually gone to the site. Heineken Light ads have encouraged the notion of “paying it forward” with their “Share the Good” commercials and website.

And while the ad offers lovely sentiment, it begs for something more meaningful than an online challenge to come up with one word to describe the taste of Heineken Light. Despite their words to the contrary, this is not how you start a movement!  To find a truly interesting example of Marketing as Service in the beer category I needed the help of a British blog called The Innovation Diaries.  These folks called my attention to a site called Inhabit which in turn explained a brilliant but failed attempt by Heineken’s founder to turn its bottles into bricks for low-cost housing:

Upcycling is a 21st century term, coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, but the idea of turning waste into useful products came to life brilliantly in 1963 with the Heineken WOBO (world bottle). Envisioned by beer brewer Alfred Heineken and designed by Dutch architect John Habraken, the “brick that holds beer” was ahead of its ecodesign time, letting beer lovers and builders alike drink and design all in one sitting.Mr. Heineken’s idea came after a visit to the Caribbean where he saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials. The WOBO became his vision to solve both the recycling and housing challenges that he had witnessed on the islands… Despite the success of the first “world bottle” project, the Heineken brewery didn’t support the WOBO and the idea stalled.  

Had Heineken made this work, it would have been an extraordinary example of Marketing as Service. Since they didn’t, the door is still open and we’d be happy to help any beer advertiser out turn their marketing into something other than likable messages.

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