Heineken insisted that Snapchat's audience is "too young for us" and will instead "focus on Instagram as it makes mobile a bigger part of its sports marketing efforts," according to Tony Connelly of THE DRUM. The beer brand is "planning to double its digital marketing spend" by '20 and has set the "lofty ambition of becoming the benchmark of creativity in the mobile world." Yet it will "pursue this goal without the use of one of the biggest social media platforms." Heineken Global Sponsorships Dir Hans Erik Tuijt said, "Snapchat’s audience is still too young because as a responsible alcohol producer we want to make sure we market at least 75% above legal drinking." However, the platform has "shown signs of maturity." Snapchat U.K. GM Claire Valoti revealed that 77% of its U.K. audience is over the age of 18. Higher age restrictions around alcohol in the U.S. "present a different picture though." In May '16, AdWeek reported that only 40% of its U.S. user base was "over the legal drinking age of 21." Jim Beam, AB InBev, MillerCoors, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Bacardi are "among the alcohol companies marketing on the platform now." Tuijt said that Heineken’s "reluctance to dive into Snapchat should not be interpreted as a sign of an under planned mobile strategy." He said, "You cannot activate sports sponsorships anymore unless you have a mobile strategy." In addition to Twitter, Tuijt added that "Instagram is definitely part of our plans" and sees it as a "more suitable alternative to Snapchat" (THE DRUM, 3/16).
