Red Stripe went big on London culture to launch its rum variant

The Media Plan

To launch a new variant of Red Stripe, owner Heineken went for a new approach for the brand — an entirely social-led media plan relying on the power of influencers.

For social agency Goat, the challenge was in differentiating new product Rum Stripe from other drinks while maintaining a clear connection to Red Stripe and its roots.

Those roots lie in London inner-city music and Caribbean culture. Using Heineken’s first-party data on Red Stripe, Goat identified the core audience for the new variant as young, culturally engaged Londoners influenced by music, nightlife and fashion.

“The goal was to build a lifestyle and aesthetic around Rum Stripe,” said Saagar Kaushik, senior strategy executive at Goat.

For this particular audience, who views nights out and music events as key cultural moments, what better way to promote Rum Stripe than via The Rum Stripe Corner Shop?

The activation recreated an authentic London corner shop, with fridges stocked with Red Stripe and Rum Stripe, and props sourced from the famous Ridley Road market — but complete with a DJ booth and a dance floor.

Heineken’s data also helped Goat identify the most suitable creators to collaborate with and who had strong connections to the local music and creative communities. Over 100 people attended the event, with performances from D Double E, Sir Spyro and Tiffany Calver — all well-known names within the UK grime and dance scene.

With the target audience hungry for cultural moments, Instagram was chosen as the channel for its visual appeal. Creators developed follow-up content after the event, such as night-out Reels and even fashion items inspired by Rum Stripe.

Goat was able to refine its messaging in real time using social listening and engagement metrics. Using engagement data, it also retargeted those who interacted with the content to serve them fresh creative.

Overall, the campaign attracted over 1.2m organic views and 40,000 engagements on social media.

For Kaushik, the highlight was the shop itself.

“By blending brand storytelling with cultural relevance, we created a shared experience that resonated with both creators and attendees,” he explained. “The attention to detail, from the authentic London corner shop aesthetic to the artist lineup, made it feel organic and credible.”