Heineken among the most recognized beer brands in the world but also the one most often misspelled – this year it will celebrate its 150th birthday with the irreverence that has always distinguished it: an unconventional celebration of all the wrong ways in which the world his name is written. The purpose? Proving that good times and making real connections over a beer are what matters most.

Freddy Heineken 's famous words "I don't sell beer, I sell gezelligheid" have never been so true. "Gezelligheid", in fact, in Dutch, is that feeling of enjoyment in experiencing "good times", which has always been the DNA of the Heineken brand. And this is why, to celebrate the historic anniversary, Heineken will put "the good times" at the center of the celebrations, also measuring its success on the basis of the pleasant moments it offers its consumers in over 190 countries.

And it is precisely with this in mind that behavioral expert Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation at Goldsmiths, University of London, has created the 'Good Times Index' for Heineken, a new measurement model that will assign a score on a scale from 0 a 100 for the contribution that the brand has made to making the "good times" such. Combining international research, the index has identified five fundamental conditions that people universally need to experience happy moments: mental openness, the ability to fully experience social moments, the quality of relationships, the social value of one's purpose , balance and moderation,

"In approaching this project - explained Brauer - we wanted to understand what a "beautiful moment" really is, with the aim of identifying the multiple dimensions that make it such. Beautiful moments are a myriad of feelings, experiences, different and subjective desires and needs that contribute to generate a sensation and satisfy needs of a higher order. I am excited to see a brand like Heineken investing in better understanding the sensation of "gezelligheid" so as to have a greater ability to convey it".

The results of the Good Times Index indicate that 87% of those interviewed believe that now more than ever it is important to have fun and that to really do it you need to be together with loved ones. This confirmation is further strengthened by the fact that 82% of the interviewees consider the company more important than the success of the plans for a successful evening. While 87% of respondents believe opportunities to connect in person with loved ones have become even more important since the pandemic, the vast majority (88%) agree that the best memories come from unexpected moments.