These unique doors open the world for those who dare

by Victor Guerra

When a brand launch a promotional effort, most of the time it is because sales need to be boosted.

With a well managed brand, it is common to see promotions directly related to one of its sponsorship properties (VISA credit cards, ADIDAS and Coca-Cola do this with FIFA’s World Cup and Olympic Games) some others even without being official sponsors, try to associate their brands to an event using promotions (like Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Dominos Pizza did during the last American Super Bowl fever). This make sense since they are eager to build not just awareness but also attributes that the sponsorship/event posses and to their brand.[1]

Nevertheless, it is unusual to see a promotion that is fully based on the brand’s advertising campaign (or in other words, on its own positioning strategy). Well, this is exactly what Heineken beer did this year with a promotional campaign in Mexico, using social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube), a website[2], along with a very targeted use of traditional media (TV) and BTL efforts (POS Material + special packaging): The “Open your city” promotion.

This promotional campaign challenges the target audience (mainly males from high socio-economic levels) to dare to explore, to have a real adventure at the style and character of the brand itself: modern, young, international, and very dynamic.

It was a worldwide effort, but the execution in Mexico was complemented with real experiences that were vitalized using Social Media.

Their strategic intent is to boost sales (it encourage their customers to register codes included in the packaging), but it also does a great job on the brand image, reinforcing its positioning strategy.

And it worked! The 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity’s Creative Marketer of the Year will be awarded to HEINEKEN. It was not just because of this promotion, but I am sure it contributed to it.[3]

What other brands do you know working promotions aligned with their own essence?

[1] http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-2014-pizza-deals-promotions-pizza-hut-papa-johns-dominos-cicis-gearing-big-game-1550807

[2] http://www.heineken.com/ca/en/Home.aspx

[3] http://www.canneslions.com/press/press_releases/979/cannes_lions_names_heineken_2015_creative_marketer_of_the_year/