Saturday, March 13, 2010

A Truly "Champion" Piece of Buzz Marketing. Heineken Plays Prank on UEFA Champions League Football Fans.


Life is all about making compromises right? This piece was brought to my attention by one of young AdLanders Jessica Giordano because she knows my love of the two "beautiful games"... advertising and football.

Careful when it comes to down one of the most sacred things left for guys... an evening of watching football (soccer) with their friends (as wel asl, a profitable beer occasion).

Heineken Italy found a unique way to speak to these men and seal their place as the number one beer choice.

Well that's what roughly 1,000 A.C. Milan football (soccer) fans thought they were making last Fall, when they gave up a nigth of camaraderie of watching a big football match last fall on October 21st against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. Give the evening up for a night of poetic musical and art.

Thanks to Heineken and about 200+ accomplices who were in on the prank which included girlfriends, journalists and professors. Each knowing that in the end the boys will get there desired, watching the match and Heineken sealed its brand loyalty.

JWT Italy developed a rather incredible  and truly a brilliant "stunt" (activation) strategy, where Heineken Italy proposed that the “most sacred time that men have left” is at risk, when they devised a "stunt" to call out the increasing influence external factors have in pulling a fan away from his television and likely his friends... time spent with his lady. The event invitation was to go to a classical concert whose title "Calcio" was akin to going to the dentist for a root canal.

Heineken went viral with this piece, celebrated the sanctity of male bonding and created authentic engagement with its brand. In the end all is forgiven,and the boys got to watch the game and may have won the favor of their lady friends.

Watch this piece gain momentum in the Award shows this year.


1 comment:

Susan H said...

Anthony,

Great post! Shows the type of personality Heineken has as a brand.

Hilarious how bored people seemed at the beginning of "Calcio." We all tend to have wandering eyes when something displeases us. Smart idea to use the overhead and to slowly connect with the audience as the classical went on.

This prank was well thought out. I liked what you wrote about all the guys connecting with one another in terms of being forced to go to something they didn't want to attend. Also shows how sweet these attendees are to sacrifice game time for string time with important people ;) Would you sacrifice game time for strings time Anthony? lol.

Further proof that this was well done: Go to 3:36, the male is gesturing something that you gesture in class each time we see brilliance.

REALLY enjoyed your post! Thanks :)

Susan

 
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