Heineken China broke gender barriers in sports with a unique approach during UEFA. They designed an omni-channel interactive brand experience, using short videos, livestreams, and football vertical platforms. They created H*AI, a football AI tool on China’s TikTok. H*AI interacted with Thierry Henry and successfully fooled him. In the UEFA finals, it was revealed that H*AI was not powered by a supercomputer, but by 4 female superfans. The campaign successfully sparked commentary on gender equality in the sport and the bias that female fans are “fake fans” and positioned Heineken as an innovative and inclusive champion for ALL fans.

As one of the most prestigious beer brand in international football, Heineken created a global football platform –“Cheers To All Fans. Men Included” with the belief that the most beloved sports in humankind should transcend beyond gender. In China, female football fans still face the perception that they do not understand football and are labelled as fake fans.

The key objective of the 2023 UEFA Champions League campaign is that Heineken supports female fans to break down the gender barriers in China, and get everyone to see them as just equally passionate and savvy football fans. Here are the key metric to success of campaign.

Drive massive social discussion

* Drive earned media exposure and brand awareness

* Drive social comments

Increase connection with football fans especially among female

*increase in brand association with football among female

Increase in brand metric

*increase in top mentioned beer brand and brand preference

2023 was a great year in football for women, the Chinese woman’s team won their ninth AFC Cup after a hiatus of 17 years and evoked much pride and praise amongst netizens. However, the same cannot be said about female football fans, there is a pre-conceived notion in China that females don’t understand football and are merely WAGs, eye candy or simply out there to drool over hot hunks with abs – so much so to coin them fake fans.

To breaking down gender barriers in sports, we needed a creative approach beyond conventional education approach. We recognized that artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic among Chinese netizens, with everyone believing in what AI says. This led us to create the H*AI, an intelligent football chatbox tool on Douyin with a twist. The interesting part is that all the views expressed by H*AI are not by AI intelligence by human intelligence from a group of incredibly knowledgeable female super fans, challenging the preconceived notion that they don't understand football. By presenting football knowledge and insights from women disguised as AI, we aim to show that women can be just as passionate and knowledgeable as any football fan.

Heineken aims to expand its reach in China's football viewing audience by targeting the growing female audience with strong viewing habits and young male audience who are open-minded and values for equality and inclusiveness.

Right topic: Riding on the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) among Chinese, Heineken introduces Heineken AI to create massive interest. Influencer content featuring football legend Thierry Henry, a commentator, and a superfan will interact with H*AI, decoding advice from Chinese female fans.

Right platform: The content is spread on popular social platforms like Douyin and WeChat for wider reach and bigger discussion. We also created deeper discussion on football equality on professional sports platforms like Hupu and Dongqiudi.

Right approach: This campaign successfully appeals to Chinese football communities that value brands promoting equality and inclusivity in football. It generates a positive impression of Heineken among beer drinkers in China.

In 2023 Heineken introduced Heineken AI to Chinese football fans during UEFA Champions League. The campaign consists of four phases - Launch, Amplify, Reveal, and Sustain leading up to the UEFA finals. In the launch phase, we introduced Heineken AI through a 1-minute video, showcasing its capabilities and how it will revolutionize football. We enlisted Thierry Henry, a renowned football legend, as our beta tester to enhance the platform's credibility and generate excitement. The Amplify phase we collaborated with three top Chinese influencers in football - an athlete, a commentator, and a superfan - to interact with Heineken

AI, sparking intense discussions and anticipation for the UEFA finals. During the UEFA finals broadcast, it was revealed that four female football fans were the masterminds behind Heineken AI, highlighting inclusiveness. Personal stories of the female fans, a making-of video, and a press release were released to reinforce this message.

Our stunt went viral on top social platforms like Douyin (China TikTok), Wechat (China Facebook) and professional sports platforms like Hupu and Dongqiudi.

Some comments on social:

“They really knows football. I can feel their passion”

“No matter it is man or woman, we all share the same passion”

“Heineken is awesome, I never expect such as a twist, it gives respect to all fans”

The campaign generated

*1.99B earned impression (151 free press coverage, impression equivalent to 4.85M Ad Value)

*77 million social media impression

*182K online comments for football equality

It raised the brand love among football fans especially female

*14% increase in brand association with football among female among exposed group

*Reach a new high in football association among female: 93% (6% higher than male)

The campaign significantly increased in brand metric

*20% increase in being the preferred beer for football occasions

(source: client research data)