Heineken’s two European title races were huge dates in the diary – the first F1 race in the Netherlands since 1985 at Zandvoort, and the iconic Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’Italia in Monza.

Our brief and core objective remained constant and provided a red thread throughout the season: Deliver world-class experiences for fans that deliver brand love for Heineken, for fans both at home and at the track.

1. Entertain & Celebrate

Create ownable, sharable, digital-first activations for Heineken

Deliver unmissable live experiences

Drive maximum awareness through key moments in racing calendar

2. Reward

Reward fans both at-home and at the track

Demonstrate Heineken’s credibility in key markets

3. Connect

Connect fans at home to the world of F1

4. Advocacy

Drive global PR coverage in titles that resonate with our target audience

Create brand uplift around key activations

Be the table-topping brand associated with F1 at key races

To celebrate our two European title races, huge events in the racing calendar, we wanted to integrate Heineken into the celebratory moments of these race weekends.

And to create showstopping moments and unforgettable experiences for fans.

And what better races to do it at – the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985 and the iconic Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’Italia in Monza.

We decided to bring some of the biggest names in dance music to the F1 party. An F1 party to not just be enjoyed by fans at the track and in the city, but live streamed to racing and music fans worldwide.

And we needed a series of partners to ensure our spectacular performances reached the right people, at the right time.

Our strategy was split into two key sections – artist selection for each performance, and the selection of our streaming partner.

Both of these needed to produce performances that fitted within our wider sponsorship strategy; ensuring that they entertain, celebrate with, reward and thank fans in new and innovative ways, for fans both at the race and at home.

To decide who would headline each of our title race performances, we carefully selected globally renowned DJs who embody our company values, DJ Tiësto and Nina Kraviz

For this, we undertook market research, background checks and analysed relevant data including social demographics and follower age breakdowns, to ensure these were in line with our standards and committed to responsible consumption.

Our partnership with global streaming platform Beatport enabled our campaign to feature world class talent across our livestreams and content, aligning Heineken with the most respected DJs within their respective genres.

Entertain & Celebrate

Celebrated the historic return of Formula 1® to Zandvoort with a unique performance from global superstar DJ Tiësto, delivered on the back of a Heineken®0.0 biofuel-powered truck, following the podium celebrations

Continued momentum through to Monza, kicking off the race weekend with an exclusive Friday night set from Nina Kraviz, live from the Heineken® Greener Bar in Milan’s city centre to celebrate the F1 Heineken Gran Premio d'Italia

Reward

Tiësto’s Heineken®0.0 truck stage was driven around the track, stopping in front of the Heineken® Grandstand to entertain and perform in front of fans

Local fans, VIPs and F1 attendees were invited to the exclusive Nina Kraviz launch party at the Heineken Greener Bar to kick off the race weekend

Connect

Both performances were live streamed in partnership with Beatport, F1, Red Bull Racing Honda and each of our performers, to ensure fans at home didn’t miss out

Entertain & Celebrate

800+ pieces of coverage from Tiësto post-event release

99.2k total watch hours on Tiësto’s live stream

978 pieces of coverage from Nina Kraviz post-event release

68k total watch hours on Nina Kraviz live stream

30m+ total impressions across both performances

Reward

70,000 fans at the track at Zandvoort experiencing Tiësto’s set live

With an additional 3.04m fans tuning in from home

500+ fans at the Heineken Greener Bar experiencing Nina Kraviz’s set live

With an additional 4.9m fans tuning in from home

Connect

58.8m total impressions across the campaign

Which generated 6.2k engagements

Advocacy

Over 6m video views across both performances, generating 940k live stream engagements

Generated 2bn+ PR reach from from both sets

387.2m social reach across both performances

Number one brand associated with Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix & Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio d'Italia 2021