Heineken - Shutter Ads
Heineken approached Publicis Italy. The client wanted to support its struggling bar partners during prolonged COVID-19 closures, which severely impacted their livelihoods and community spirit. The brand needed a way to alleviate financial strain for bar owners and spread hope about reopening, while maintaining its positive connection to social gatherings. The desired outcome was to demonstrate empathy and reinforce brand loyalty.
Creative Idea
Heineken turned closed bar shutters into ad space, financially supporting owners and signaling a hopeful return.
Heineken bought ad space on closed bar shutters in Barcelona during the pandemic to help small business owners financially and spread hope. By placing positive messages on shutters, the brand transformed unused spaces into meaningful communication that supported local bars and kept their spirit alive.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Heineken possesses a massive global media budget and a deep, symbiotic relationship with the bars that serve as their primary point of sale. They had the financial capacity to pivot traditional OOH spending into direct, localized business subsidies.
Category
Beer brands typically compete for high-traffic billboard placements and lifestyle-driven 'refreshment' messaging. During the pandemic, many brands defaulted to generic, sentimental video messages rather than providing tangible utility to their distribution partners.
Customer
Bar owners felt financially abandoned and invisible, while local patrons experienced a sense of grief seeing their vibrant neighborhoods boarded up and desolate. Both groups craved a sign that their social hubs would survive the lockdown.
Culture
The pandemic accelerated a 'support local' movement where consumers demanded brands take concrete action. The physical shuttering of bars became a haunting visual symbol of the economic and social toll of the global health crisis.
Company
Heineken possesses a massive global media budget and a deep, symbiotic relationship with the bars that serve as their primary point of sale. They had the financial capacity to pivot traditional OOH spending into direct, localized business subsidies.
Category
Beer brands typically compete for high-traffic billboard placements and lifestyle-driven 'refreshment' messaging. During the pandemic, many brands defaulted to generic, sentimental video messages rather than providing tangible utility to their distribution partners.
Strategy:
Transform traditional OOH budgets into direct bar subsidies to turn shuttered storefronts into symbols of community resilience.
Customer
Bar owners felt financially abandoned and invisible, while local patrons experienced a sense of grief seeing their vibrant neighborhoods boarded up and desolate. Both groups craved a sign that their social hubs would survive the lockdown.
Culture
The pandemic accelerated a 'support local' movement where consumers demanded brands take concrete action. The physical shuttering of bars became a haunting visual symbol of the economic and social toll of the global health crisis.
Strategy:
Transform traditional OOH budgets into direct bar subsidies to turn shuttered storefronts into symbols of community resilience.
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Heineken bought ad space on closed bar shutters, providing direct financial utility to struggling owners. The advertising itself became a tangible form of support.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Reverse Expectations
Heineken transformed closed bar shutters, symbols of economic hardship, into canvases of hope and financial support. This reversed the negative expectations associated with these spaces during the pandemic.
Explore Technique
