Challenge:

In a sea of corporate responsible drinking messages, how can Heineken, the world’s most valuable international premium beer brand, do things differently? How can we deliver a message to a thrill-seeking, fun-loving, audience that initiates real behavioural change?

Objective:

Make drinking slower on a night-out cool.

Strategy:

Show - not tell - how amazing music can change the focus of a night out from drinking to dancing.

Prove that the better the music, the more people will dance - therefore the less they will drink.

Execution:

In a world first, partner with the world’s best DJ and global role-model, Armin van Buuren (AvB), to conduct a social experiment. #Dance More, Drink Slow (#DMDS).

Use AvB’s status as a cultural icon and music influencer’s respect to give credibility to a topic that does not traditionally engage the audience.

Create and release an exclusive AvB a track, ‘Save my Night’, aimed to specifically trigger this behaviour on a night out and to live beyond the social experiment into popular culture.

How it worked: Two identical club nights. Same club, same amount of people, same observation time, and one difference: The DJ playing on the second night was the best DJ in the world.

Outcomes:

• Heineken’s brand impact on drinking in moderation improved by +9%.

• Exclusive track became world famous – charting in 27 countries, becoming the world’s most aired dance track

• Experiment film – proved that alcohol consumption on Night 2 was 42% lower than Night 1.

Heineken entered into a pioneering partnership with the world’s best DJ and global role-model, Armin van Buuren, who created and released an exclusive track, ‘Save my Night’, aimed at triggering responsible behaviour on the dancefloor.

Using AvB, we conducted a social experiment film called ‘The Experiment’. Shot on consecutive nights in a Miami club, the film definitively proved that music - and the right role model - can be the spur for behaviour change amongst party goers.

Featuring the exclusive ‘Save my Night’ track, the film encompassed two identical club nights. Same club, same amount of people, same observation time, and one difference: The DJ playing on the second night was the best DJ in the world.

Alcohol consumption on Night 2 of ‘The Experiment’ was 42% lower than Night 1.

Using his reputation, influence and media desirability, ‘The Experiment’ was seeded to global media along with additional tailored content, including 1-2-1 access to AvB as well as exclusive previews of ‘Save my Night’ track and a Spotify partnership.

Output & Awareness Impact

• Media coverage in 25 markets

• 500 pieces of coverage across all media channels (print, online & broadcast)

• +147M impressions or unique users reached via online articles

• +17M earned Twitter reach

• +212M reach across all media channels

• #DMDS has been tagged 8,400 times

Knowledge/Consideration:

• 88% key message penetration

• 92% positive sentiment across total media coverage

• Alcohol consumption on Night 2 of ‘The Experiment’ was 42% lower

• DJs all over the world were following Armin’s lead to promote moderation using #DMDS (e.g. Russia, Mexico, Vietnam, Chile)

• Heineken’s brand impact on moderation has improved by +9%

• +12% think that Heineken acts responsibly

• +18% would recommend/promote Heineken

Action & Business Impact

• Nearly 26 million views of The Experiment (most watched Heineken content ever)

• The Experiment was shared 134,724 times

• Armin’s track ‘Save my night’ was streamed +690,000 times on Spotify

• Armin’s track has been remixed by other DJs a +100 times