Tecate and Tecate Light, brands of White Plains, N.Y.-based Heineken USA, kicked off a national shopper marketing program aimed at giving men of legal drinking age the essentials they need for a spring and summer full of barbecues and carácter. The Spanish- and English-language “Gear Up” campaign, which includes a sweepstakes, cross-merchandising offers and thematic point-of-sale (POS) materials at thousands of retail locations, will be in market through April 2014.

“Our consumers are men of carácter and are constantly looking for ways to make any experience a little bolder,” said Gustavo Guerra, brand director for Tecate, in a statement. “With 75 percent of U.S. Hispanics believing that grilling will make a hangout with family and friends more fun, [according to Mintel,] we saw a unique opportunity to help them create an authentic summer celebration. By giving our consumers the opportunity to ‘Gear Up’ with grilling essentials, we’re creating a relevant shopping destination at retail that will help increase basket rings during a key beer consumption period.”

The “Gear Up” campaign is centered on a text-to-win sweepstakes that gives consumers the chance to win everything they need to add carácter to their outdoor celebrations, including Tecate Light can-shaped grills, rolling coolers, and Tecate Coleman chairs featuring a detachable cooler and beer holders on its arms, the company says. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. Bilingual POS materials, including tuck cards, pole toppers and floor decals, as well as the sweepstakes prizes themselves, help delineate the shopping area at large- and small-scale retailers across key U.S. markets, it adds.

With the purchase of Tecate or Tecate Light bottles or cans, consumers of legal drinking age also will be able to take advantage of cross-merchandising mail-in and instant rebate offers on items such as charcoal; meat; any brand of tequila and non-alcohol beverages; and disposable plates, cups and utensils that will help round-out their grilling occasions.