Image: Heineken/YouTubeWe live in a culture where over-stimulation is the default setting. With brands constantly vying for our attention, we have become experts at filtering out the noise.
For a brand to get noticed these days it has to distinguish itself from the humdrum, it has to rise above the background noise, like an overzealous choir-boy breaking rank to belt out a power ballad; this is what great marketing does.
However, with the rise of social media, this is becoming an increasingly difficult task, not just because there are so many other voices crying out for attention, but because there is such a narrow window of opportunity to grab the consumer’s attention before it jumps to the next thing; a Facebook post, advert, shiny object.
For the first in this series - looking at some of the most unique, most creative, most innovative and most downright brilliant marketing campaigns - we decided to throwback to a big favourite of ours.
'The Candidate'
Back in 2013, Heineken put out an ad looking for an event and sponsorship marketing intern. The intern’s responsibilities would include following the UEFA Champions League Trophy as it toured the world. Where can I apply?
The campaign gathered a huge reaction from the public, raking in over 5 million YouTube views and over 15,000 mentions on social media. After the campaign was done Heineken reported 91% of employees found the video stimulating for their job, a 278% increase in traffic to its HR site and an increase of 317% in CVs received.
I don't want to say too much. So why don't you
The brilliant thing about this campaign is that it works on so many levels.
It's massively shareable and engaging - Obviously, the ultimate goal of the ad was to promote Heineken and the brand. Although beer brands are notorious for thinking differently in their advertising, this is particularly unique. It's completely different to anything seen before and features real life situations. That's what makes it so darn shareable.
It boosted the brand internally - Marketing is generally outward. It's a business saying to the world 'come and buy our product'. But this campaign showed Heineken as a company that wants to improve itself, not just its sales figure. 91% of employees say it made them more stimulated in their job is a massive achievement. It showed that Heineken is a brand with an innovative and creative culture, and what happened? Thousands of those type of people came looking for a job.
By Henry Mackenzie, Fresh Business Thinking
