The brand's as strong as ever and the advertising retains an iconic singularity that goes back decades, but British Heineken drinkers are waking up to a whole new product.

The US has enjoyed the Amsterdam brewer's premium 5% lager since it arrived in Hoboken, NY, immediately after Prohibition ended in 1933. Always marketed on the strength of its Dutch heritage, it was never brewed locally west of the Atlantic, but rather by Whitbread under license in the UK.

That license expired in February, and Heineken is promoting the arrival of premium 5% with a campaign bearing the hallmarks of its historical global creative.

Viewers accustomed to Heineken's heritage of wacky creative will probably notice the change in the product, rather than a deliberate shift in its advertising strategy. The latest batch of commercials was directed by Traktor for Clemmow Hornby Inge, Heineken's new UK agency (replacing Lowe, London).

"We're not trying to ditch [the creative heritage] - it's a real asset," says marketing director Leslie Meredith. She maintains they've kept the former quirkiness, underpinned by a more worldly and adventurous personality. And a global message.

In the new spots - written by Brian Turner and Micky Tudor - Swiss, American and Dutch drinkers shrug off their stereotypical images under the influence of the 'real thing'. For example, "Holland" sends up the Dutch reputation for tolerance, which goes out of the window when the Heineken quality is questioned.

Similar to the US, where Heineken is finding its feet after a three-year sales dip (see "Heritage Hath No Fury"), the UK demo is 20- and 30-something guys. "We're talking in their own language - male, without being macho, and using that to build on the brand's heritage," says Danny Joseph, account director at CHI.

CHI has a tough act to follow. Long-time agency Lowe created a 30-year identity for the brand beginning in the early-1970s with "Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach". One of the all-time great slogans in the UK, the tag spawned an endless stream of classic commercials which suggested the miraculous powers of the lager. Finally, in 1998, the tagline changed to "How refreshing, how Heineken", uttered in the libidinous tones of Britain's favorite film bounder Leslie Phillips.

Joseph agrees the old Heineken ads are a "phenomenal legacy", but says the new spots - which will air in the UK for the third time in October and November to coincide with Heineken's sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup - are a fresh start for the brand.

"More than anything, it's about communicating the change, rather than defining it," says Joseph. "[It's] a different creative execution of thought, away from the traditional view of lager as refreshment."

The relationship with CHI has been successful. When Heineken's global headquarters recently pitched a brief to all its agencies worldwide for the end-of-year spot, CHI's script was chosen (no one's saying what it's about yet).

The UK campaign is financed from Heineken's £24 million marketing fund; £7 million of that targets pure media, the lion's share goes to television. The spots complement a poster campaign featuring celebrities given radical makeovers and photographed by Rankin, and a plasma screen campaign in British bars featuring soundless vignettes of tumbling Heineken kegs. There's also been a small amount of Internet advertising. But, says Meredith, the main focus has been TV because of the concentration on core regional markets.

Product-placement initiatives, which kicked off in Austin Powers 2 with Mike Myers shouting: "Get your hands off my hiney, baby!" before a bottle of Heineken appeared in shot, continue in The Matrix 2 and 3, and are now a constant in Heineken's global marketing strategy. Reaching the parts, perhaps, that other ads cannot reach.