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Marta Lazarczyk is brand director and Natalia Szałkowska is a senior brand manager at Heineken’s Polish premium beer brand Żywiec. Together, they drive the brand’s creative direction, media presence, and strategic communication.
Poland remains the third-largest beer producer in Europe; however, the market is navigating turbulent times. Lifestyle and demographic changes are driving a continuous decline in alcohol consumption across core consumer groups. People of all ages are increasingly moderating their intake, with younger generations leading the trend. As a result, non-alcoholic beer is currently the only beer category experiencing sales volume growth in the Polish market.
While lager remains the dominant segment at almost 80% of the market, traditional brands must now compete with modern challengers, such as craft and specialty flavour beers. For Żywiec, Heineken’s Polish premium beer brand with over a century of heritage, it was vital to defend our position in this changing market.
Tapping into the “New Poland” sentiment
For years, Poles looked to the West for inspiration, but that perception has shifted. Today, Poland is carving out its own identity; it’s becoming a “cool” place to be. As a local brand named after the city of Żywiec, we wanted to create a marketing campaign, featuring authentic unobvious spots that locals love and are proud of, especially outside major cities. These included, among others, a landmark sandwich shop in Gniezno and an aeroclub on the outskirts of Nowy Targ.
The central challenge of this campaign was defending our market position against the industry-wide decline in beer consumption. While our core audience remains those over 40 and Żywiec aims to stay relevant for them, an additional objective was to simultaneously resonate with legal-drinking-age (LDA) Gen Z and Millennial consumers who are digital-native.
We addressed this by pairing well-known screen and radio personalities — Janusz Chabior and Krzysztof “Jankes” Jankowski — as they embarked on a summer road trip in a branded camper. The duo’s natural chemistry and off-script banter became the witty axis around which all campaign assets revolved.
Connecting traditional and digital audiences
To further reposition Żywiec from an “old-school beer” to a modern lifestyle partner, we pivoted from traditional 30-second broadcast spots to a long-form YouTube series in the summer of 2025.
We chose seven-minute episodes to provide the breathing room to showcase local gems alongside engaging, humorous storytelling. This was an experimental move for us; we were eager to see how long viewers would stay tuned, especially given the brand-led nature of the storytelling and its integration into social summer moments.
Our production was guided by YouTube’s ABCD framework. Our primary branding challenge was integrating the product naturally without appearing intrusive. To build an authentic connection, we relied on humour and genuine interactions with real people.
This format allowed us to showcase an authentic, unscripted side of Poland, satisfying a growing demand for authentic, human-led content.
While long-form was the heart of our campaign, we also used YouTube Shorts as a creative “hook”. These short, engaging clips gave viewers a taste of the adventure, encouraging them to dive deeper into the full episodes:
Achieving deep engagement across generations
The campaign proved that a single, powerful story can unite different audiences. We recorded over 25 million video views on YouTube across our series and supplementary content. This engagement was remarkably deep, with an average episode watch time of 56%, meaning the typical viewer stayed with us for over three minutes.
This high level of engagement translated directly into brand awareness and sales. Approximately 2.5 million people recalled the campaign, achieving a 28% ad recall rate, outperforming the industry benchmark of 22%. Sales also spiked, with ad viewers showing a 2–3x higher purchase intent and brand preference compared to the control group.1
Ultimately, these results demonstrate that a story-first approach requires moving beyond a reliance on any single format. By running bumper ads, non-skippable ads, and YouTube Shorts in tandem, we achieved the most efficient completion rates and brand loyalty that translates into long-term growth.
In 2025, the Żywiec brand saw a 5.8 percentage point increase in household penetration within cities of up to 49,000 residents. This represented the highest growth rate among 20 selected brands analysed during the period.2
Building on this success, we are pivoting to an entirely new campaign series. While it moves away from the summer trip theme, it remains deeply rooted in our brand’s DNA: a blend of cultural relevance and insider Polish humour.
To launch this fresh creative direction, we will start by producing a trailer for YouTube Shorts, featuring the new series’ highlights. As we look toward our next series launch in May, we’ve moved beyond traditional advertising to prove that a brand’s greatest asset isn’t just its product: it’s the culture it shares across generations.
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