‘The Express’ TVC announced Heineken's sponsorship of the James Bond movie Skyfall. During production, legal advice and regulations from over 20 local markets had to be considered. In some restrictive markets, specific edits had to be produced.

The campaign was then extended into an online challenge and live installations under the 'Crack the Case' banner. The digital work followed the same broad guidelines as the TV work, with the added precaution of age gating so that only viewers of legal drinking age would be able to engage with the campaign.

For the UK live activation, care was taken to place the installation in a location with overwhelmingly adult traffic. Passersby were invited to test their secret agent skills in games of dexterity and quick-thinking, while avoiding areas of physical daring that would be contrary to the advertising codes. However, while anyone over the age of 18 could participate, we carefully screened the participants so that only people over the recommended age of 25 were included in the film materials that documented the activity.

Heineken has a long association with the James Bond franchise, and for this brief we started off with a simple premise: if mistaken for James Bond, could you live up to his name? We first set to inspire our drinkers through a global TVC. We then wanted to give men the chance to apply their charm and resourcefulness towards cracking their own case. The interactive experience enabled them to show their resourcefulness through an online game, while the live activations brought the drama of the virtual experience to real life, inviting members of the public to test their nerve.

‘Crack the Case’ was a global success, launching simultaneously in 63 markets. The campaign garnered more than 25 million combined views, with 10.5 million aspiring spies testing their guile and resourcefulness in the Facebook experience, while 800,000 were successful in achieving their double 0 status. 8 markets hosted live ‘Crack the Case’ activations inviting members of the public to test their nerve and win exclusive prizes. The mobile M16 recruitment station in London’s Victoria Station ran for 5 consecutive days at maximum capacity, with queues on average over 40 minutes long.