Eurobest
PUBLICIS ITALY, Milan / HEINEKEN / 2016
Awards:
Overview
Entries
Credits
Background
2016 presented a huge opportunity for us to leverage Heineken’s sponsorship of the Champions League. Football-crazy Italy is one of Heineken’s most important markets in Europe and, in May, the Champions League Final will be hosted here in Milan. Watching matches together here is a time-honed tradition, especially the sacred Champions League. However, it’s increasingly at risk – figures suggest that as many as 72% of guys watch the Champions League at home alone. For Heineken, this was both a practical business problem (less beer sold) and a brand problem. Heineken’s “Champion the Match” strategy is about making match night the best it can be – which also means watching with mates. It was our job to drive penetration during this key period by encouraging guys to watch the UCL together, as well as launch our “Champion the Match” promo.
Description
The activation took place on the 17th of February at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, right before the UCL match between Roma and Real Madrid. We used two stadium screens to broadcast the live video message from Simone’s friends. With approximately 60 000 people witnessing the stunt and the unsuspecting victim who nearly had a heart attack when he realised he was being exposed (if you’re worried about our Simone, he’s doing fine: (https://www.facebook.com /simone.elleppi?fref=nf), we had only one chance to pull it off - and this made the activation so entertaining for the audience.
Execution
15 minutes before the starting whistle, we connected our victim with the friends he betrayed through the big screen of the stadium. They seemed to be in the usual living-room in which they use to watch every Champions League match. They talked directly to him, blaming him for his decision, showing the whole stadium his betrayal and pushing him to get back where he belongs: next to them. How? Using an helicopter provided by Heineken, outside the stadium, ready to leave. Under the pressure of 60.000 witnesses, Simone finally decided to leave, escorted towards the nearest exit. The door he opened didn’t led him outside but in a sky box where we recreated the friends’ livingroom down to the last detail, from where actually the group was calling him to join them. The group, finally reunited, was able to follow the match live. Enjoying an ice cold Heineken, of course.
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