2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Every rugby fan is an armchair critic. When a goal kicker misses the posts, there is shock, disgust and more than a few words of advice thrown his way. And research has told us that men would rather 'earn' their prize rather than simply scratch a card to win it.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

So, to promote the Dubai Rugby 7's sponsorship for Heineken we decided to put these critics in the kicker’s boots. We created a digital kicking game, with all the real life difficulties built in – tough angles, a range of distances and cross winds for good measure. Then we took it to 4 major bars around the city and challenged these critics to perform under the same kind of pressure real kickers face. We set up the atmosphere of a stadium in the bars and invite men to test their mettle in front of the posts.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

It was a humbling experience for most. They realised that along with all the technical difficulties, it was even harder to perform with everyone watching. Those few who did manage to kick as well as they claimed were given free tickets to the tournament. In between, everyone had a good laugh and there was a total volume uplift of 37% across the outlets that held the promotion.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The game we developed had real weather conditions, making every kick different from wind speed and direction to distance and position of the ball from the posts. This was the challenge young men of Dubai were looking for. They earned their Heineken and some held their mettle long enough to win tickets to the Dubai Rugby 7's.