How to get dozens of people to a secret event during the day for an established global brand? That was the task that we at Virgo Communications tackled and executed for Heineken’s 2016 to kickoff of the 2016 UEFA Champions League – Europe’s prestigious football competition.
Heineken launch of the UEFA Championship from Virgo Communications on Vimeo.
Heineken has a progressive and premium brand image centred around exciting events and media executions. However in Barbados the brand wanted to elevate it’s UEFA Champion’s League events. They also wanted to use the event to launch an online promotion to allow two people the chance to win a trip to Europe and the UEFA semi-finals. How best to build buzz? Virgo conceptualised a secret, unexpected party in one week.
To challenge expectations Virgo created a secret party at the then new and trendy restaurant Primo; an eatery not associated with the brand or sports specifically. 100 guests were hand-delivered ambiguous invitations; they had no idea what the event was for.
The restaurant was transformed on the day of the event so as to keep the intrigue; outfitted with green lounge furniture, Foozball tables, architectural lighting and flags in the brand colours of Heineken. Large TV screens were placed strategically to stream the UEFA game.
To support this on-site activity and the online promotion festive materials were placed at the point-of-sale; premiums, and promotion items instructed patrons how to enter online. In true Heineken style, a number of big surprises were revealed throughout the night to deliver a memorable experience for consumers.
The event was a complete success, in addition to continuously entering the online promotion, the crowd posted videos of the event continuously – in real time on their social media platforms using the Heineken hashtags #HeinekenBim and #ChallengeTheMatch
This event scored a Gold American Advertising Awards (AAA) from the 2016 Caribbean Advertising Federation (CAF). That one was a welcome surprise to us and the client.