In 2018, Heineken Italy is launching Heineken 0.0 with a tight budget to do so. In the same year, Formula 1 banned grid girls from the races. That's why we have the opportunity to transform this negative into a positive: substitute the grid girls with a creative idea that can create buzz around the launch of Heineken 0.0.

We took grid girls' stage as the stage to launch our alcohol-free beer, turning the grid line into a media. Heineken 0.0 is the only beer that can stand next to drivers before the green light: and that's exactly where Heineken 0.0 was placed, under the eyes of 600 MM spectators.

On the grid line in Monza, drivers will meet a never-seen before refreshment: waiters serving them bottles of Heineken 0.0, the only Heineken they can enjoy before driving. In this way, we turned the build-up to the race into the launch of Heineken 0.0 in Italy.

Heineken is the main alcohol sponsor of Formula 1 – however, this sponsorship has been the topic of much debate. Some accused the beer brand of encouraging drinking and driving.

Our task, with the “Zero Alcohol At The Wheel” campaign, was to globally reinforce the message that Heineken never condones drinking and driving – and we did so with the best, most high-profile drivers in the world: F1 pilots. We needed to show that when you drive, the only beer you can afford to have is non-alcoholic.

The day of the race, 2nd of September 2018, 20 waiters brought a 0.0 bottle to each driver on the Grid Line, in Monza.

Our guys, women and man, dressed up for the special entering, walked through the temple of F1 with their tray and stood next to the drivers in front of the eyes of all the world.

The activation was further expanded upon on the brand’s social media channels. The main key visual and dedicated digital formats were shared on Heineken's Facebook, Instagram and YouTube profiles: over 4 million viewers watched the content, and many others reacted on organic blog posts, articles shares and user generated content. The brand activated local influencers to cover the national target more effectively, while enjoying a global resonance thanks to its role as official partner of Formula 1.