2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Launch a collection of six special edition ‘Cities of the World’ Heineken bottles in Beirut. Each bottle glorifies a different global city. These bottles were created to launch the Heineken global 'Cities of the World' campaign that aims to inspire Men of the World to embark on worldly adventures in their own cities under the umbrella of ‘Open Your City’. The Lebanese launch of the bottles must expand the global campaign into Beirut, inspiring the Lebanese to embark on worldly adventures in their city, on a budget of $10,000 including media.

Creative Execution

As a small city in a conflict-ridden region, the Lebanese are used to hearing about big activations abroad, but not being part of them. As a global brand in Beirut, Heineken needed to elevate the city and make it a part of its global campaign on just $10,000 including media. With not much to spend to spread the word, we needed to engage Lebanon interactively. By having the Lebanese live six different global cities at home under the umbrella of ‘Open Beirut’, we were able to effectively bring the global Heineken thinking to Beirut in a manner that made the city excited about the limited edition Cities of the World bottles.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We created ‘Open Beirut’ and turned six bars into the six global cities with signage outside each. We got Beirut ‘city-hopping’ with Heineken maps and passports. They received each city’s stamp when they ordered a Heineken at the respective bar. If they collected all six stamps, they entered the draw to win a trip for two to New York and Amsterdam. We spread the news online via social media posts and digital banners, and on ground at each pub with table-tents and coasters.

Results

With just $10,000 including media, the Open Beirut activation effectively brought the Heineken global 'Cities of the World' campaign to Lebanon in an innovative manner that not only launched the limited edition bottles but also increased sales by 30% in participating bars and built brand equity through the use of an innovate interactive platform. In less than one weekend, 300 city stamps were issued to Heineken passport holders.