The ABSOLUT Vodka portfolio has been extended with a new flavoured variety, ABSOLUT Gräpevine, which comes as another taste experiment of the brand and offers yet more opportunities to bartenders who use the brand’s infused vodkas to create their diverse cocktails. The new offering, which combines the original and distinct taste of white grape and papaya, balanced with the sweet notes of dragon fruit, follows a new city-inspired ABSOLUT Vodka edition, the one dedicated to Miami. Both new offerings were launched in bars, nightclubs and retail across the USA on January 1.

To spice up the holiday season and remind adult consumers that Christmas is a great time to drink and share Guinness, the popular beer brand launches a festive ‘two colored’ push in the UK. The campaign, which is running under the strapline ‘Celebrate this Christmas with a Guinness’, is built on the idea that this white season the clack colour (which refers to the iconic black pint of Guinness) is a perfect fit for the festive occasion.

Christmas season is the time when most people not only exchange gifts and send greetings, but also drink and say cheers. For some of us the second goes above the first, and here the problems begin. To address this, global brands, both alcohol and beverage ones, launch campaigns to promote moderate drinking. Recently, the soft-drink giant Coca-Cola rolled out the new round of its ‘Designated Driver’ initiative, and HEINEKEN started its new promotion of responsible alcohol consumption by launching a new extension of the ‘Open Your World’ global campaign of its flagship beer, Heineken. Under the new theme ‘Sunrise belongs to moderate drinkers’ unveiled this Christmas season, the brand is spreading the message of moderate drinking primarily on the web, via a range of platforms, including Heineken’s YouTube channel, Facebook fan page, Heineken.com and broadcast.

On the heels of the announcement of Facebook and HEINEKEN’s tie up, the flagship beer of the company revealed two festive applications on its fan page in the biggest social media platform (though, the major deal starts on January 1, 2012). The apps, ‘BeerFriender’ and ‘The Heineken Social Christmas Tree’ help people celebrate the winter holiday in a true social way like never before.

Heineken and Facebook have partnered to work on digital campaigns for Heineken’s brands around the world. With the largest Heineken beer brand on Facebook that has over 4.6 million adult users, the beverage company aims to strengthen its popularity globally. Kingfisher and Dos Equis, two of the company’s other leading brands, are also in the top seven beer brands on Facebook.