The Brief

How do you help a beer stand out during the festive season, when every other brand is going to market saying ‘Happy Holidays’ at the same time? Sometimes, you need to take a risk and do something really different. We wanted to bring alive Heineken’s brand idea of ‘take a fresh look at what’s really good in life and enjoy it’. Singaporeans work too hard all year round, and during the festive season they deserve to relax and be rewarded. They spend most of their lives in the office, so we took this environment and turned it on its head.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Enter the Formula Chair Championships – an office inspired race track in Clarke Quay, Singapore’s busiest drinking destination, built to house our unique, motorized office chairs. For a week in December, teams took turns to race round the track for glory and Heineken year-end parties. On our Facebook page, consumers could create and share suped-up office chairs; download witty, festive out-of-office replies and book slots for the Formula Chair Championships. The Formula Chair activity was supported by a wider ‘Year End Bonus’ promotion throughout Clarke Quay, to ensure as many Heineken fans as possible could get the rewards they deserve.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The campaign captured the imagination of the public and media alike. We knew we’d struck a chord with consumers when teams arrived at the race track already kitted out in home made Heineken crash helmets. Brand scores improved, beer sales at Clarke Quay went up 75% versus the previous year and we generated an amazing 257% extra PR value vs. 2009.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Heineken enjoys strong affinity with Singaporean consumers, partly due to our constant drive to create campaigns they can experience. During December, people are out celebrating in pubs and bars. Clarke Quay is the city’s biggest social hub, so we used this as the campaign’s home – to entertain, involve and reward people while they’re out enjoying a Heineken with friends. To convert the enormous interest generated through the Formula Chair races, we ran a ‘3 for 2’ Year End Bonus promotion in 37 outlets in Clarke Quay, advertised online, on radio and OOH sites across the Clarke Quay area.