Heineken launches WhatsApp technology that swaps voice notes for beers in pubs
Heineken has created a WhatsApp bot in an effort to transform long voice note monologues into real-life chats over a pint with friends.
The technology, which is part of a new tech pilot that has been launched in Brazil and is set to roll out globally, allows WhatsApp users who receive voice notes lasting three minutes or more to be able to exchange them for a free beer, along with a recommendation of local bars to stop by and visit.
The bot was devised after global research polling 14,000 respondents showed that in just one year, the average person spends almost 150 hours a year sending and receiving voice notes.
Not only are people spending a significant amount of time listening to voice notes, but they are impacting real-life social interactions too.
Reduction in socialising in real life
According to the Statista data shared, more than half (52%) of those polled feel voice notes are replacing real life interactions, rising to 60% amongst Gen Z. Nearly half (49%), meanwhile, admit to spending entire evenings sending voice notes to a friend instead of meeting in-person, even though 54% say they have their most fulfilling conversations face-to-face.
Global data and business intelligence platform Statista also highlighted that 9.4 billion WhatsApp voice notes are now sent every day. This, it revealed, is equivalent to about 3.4 trillion over the full year. When compared to 2024, their frequency has increased by 7%, and in length by 8%.
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According to the findings, voice notes are not just growing in frequency but also length. With nearly 9.5 billion voice notes sent daily on WhatsApp alone, compared to seven billion in 2022.
Speaking about this adaptation to how we communicate, Stacy Jo Dixon, social media and society expert at Statista said: “Just like we all know meetings that ‘could have been an email’, we’re now seeing voice notes that ‘Could have been a Heineken’. Voice notes can feel more personal than reading a message, but what our research shows is that we need to make sure they don’t turn into mini-podcasts, and that we’re having two-way conversations rather than an extended monologue.”
Heineken has said that wants “to make it easier for people to share moments of socialisation in real life” as its reason as to why it has launched the ‘Could have been a Heineken’ WhatsApp bot, incentivising people to swap long voice notes for a refreshing in-person catch up over a beer.
Swap the long voice notes for a beer
Nabil Nasser, global head of the Heineken brand said: “The ‘Could have been a Heineken’ WhatsApp technology is currently being tested in Brazil, with further global markets set to follow.”
Nasser explained: “To redeem the offer, WhatsApp users over 18 must forward a voice note that they have received, which is longer than three minutes, to a private, encrypted bot. The user will then receive a message saying it ‘Could have been a Heineken’, alongside a voucher for a free beer and a recommendation of local bars to meet up with the friend in real life.”
Nasser added: “More than nine billion voice notes are now sent every day, meaning they’ve become a new global symbol of digital distraction. They’re getting longer, more one sided, and killing the art of conversation – some 76% of people globally says voice notes tend to be self-involved and over half even feel that they are replacing in-real-life connections”
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