#btsia Shortlist Focus: Heineken Formula One – 72 Hours
Brand: Heineken
Agency: M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
Entry: Heineken Formula One – 72 Hours
Category: Communications Award
Tell us about yourselves…
“Heineken became a global partner of F1 in 2017, with the communications objective of opening the world of Formula 1 for millions of fans around the world.
“We believe that F1 isn’t just about tyres, pit lanes and chequered flags, it’s a three-day event where the host city comes alive, and as a global partner we set about demonstrating this through our sponsorship.
“For 2018, we created the “Heineken 72 Hours” concept, bringing a fresh perspective to the F1 experience and told through the lens of selected top-tier media and influencers, taking them and their audiences on a journey through the underground culture of host cities, all delivered with a Heineken wit.
“We also used our sponsorship as a global platform to showcase our “When You Drive, Never Drink” campaign, driving positive change and letting F1 fans know that one beer is too many when getting behind the wheel.
Why do you think you made the shortlist?
“Our approach – we identified that a traditional set-piece PR moment or media strategy wasn’t enough to have real impact, instead we created an ongoing livestream of content through our storytellers all under the “Heineken 72 Hours” platform
“Our central concept – we opened-up host Grand Prix cities and challenged influencers/media to show the underground culture from each of these in a uniform way that flexed for each race. Ancient Xochimilco canals in Mexico City to F1 street mural design in Montreal, to bring to life a side to these cities that you wouldn’t find in any tourist handbook. We set a framework for our activations that we stuck to with a few optimisations.
“Our storytellers – we took a data-led approach to recruit top-tier media and influencers who could reach the audience we needed to target, and brought them in on a purely editorial (non-paid) basis which meant the content they were producing was completely authentic, but with the Heineken brand weaved throughout.”
What made this campaign interesting to work on?
“At Heineken we love connecting with consumers through things they love, in a light-hearted, entertaining way. So showing that F1 is more than a race by opening up F1 host cities for these fans and engaging with them through their passion points was fascinating.
“The activations we created in Ho Chi Minh, Montreal, Milan and Mexico City, and seeing how each city transformed, led to four epic weekends and definitely not something we or our storytellers will ever forget!”
Who was the MVP on this project?
“Dave Pugh, the Heineken Global brand PR lead who took the chance on a new way of doing things.
“Ben Pincus, the Heineken F1 Sponsorship lead.
“The entire team at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment; we couldn’t single one person out!”
How do you plan to celebrate?
“By toasting with a cold Heineken or a Heineken 0.0 and rolling out Heineken 72 Hours across even more races and with even more twists and turns for the 2019 season.”
CREDITS
The Heineken Global PR and sponsorship teams
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
Our friends at F1
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