Digital Strategy / Sponsorship Activation

HEINEKEN IRELAND - SPORT, MUSIC & BRAND

As primary sponsor of Heineken Cup Rugby, UEFA Champions League, Rugby World Cup, and a number of high-profile music festivals across the country, Heineken is a brand rooted in sports and entertainment in Ireland.

I was lucky enough to work on some “pinch me” brand campaigns such as the Heineken Cup Social Tracker - a three-story giant structure with 3D-mapped projections and live digital interactivity which counted support of rugby fans for ASM Clermont and RC Toulon in real time. In the build up to the final in Dublin we created a social listening algorithm which analysed sentiment to show which teams for each game were being talked about most online. For each of the knockout stages we generated a detailed infographic showing key players and moments that were capturing the excitement of HCup Rugby, this was seeded out to media, partners and social media each week.

We continued to work with on and off-trade #GETINTHEGAME campaign - including an OB broadcast roadshow with Off The Ball visiting key pubs, on-trade branding including an interactive conversion kicking game, social media competitions and content, and influencer management.

MY ROLE:

  • Digital activation strategy, creative and execution

  • Content creation - video content shoot, curation, and delivery.

  • PR - media relations, press release writing, photocall and talent management

  • Copywriting for social media, sponsor content, media partners, and owned channels.

  • Videography - storyboarding, editing, platform-specific edits

  • Social media channel management, content creation, and creative direction

  • Ambassador briefing, management, and content activation

  • Experiential - creative direction, strategy, event production, content capture, management

We created a suite of weekly, relevant and topical social media posts, and fostered engagement between fans and their favourite pubs throughout the #GETINTHEGAME campaign.

RESULTS

  • +32 million social mentions listened to and analysed

  • +5 days live projection on the 3D structure

  • +64 key accounts on/off-trade visited with the Trophy/Game

  • +€12m in PR coverage/AVE

  • +26 matches covered in HCup and Challenge Cup

  • +1500 seated in our Clubhouse fanzone stand

  • 1 amazing HCup Final weekend in Dublin

OTHER PROJECTS WITH HEINEKEN IRELAND

  • The rollout of the UEFA Champions League interactive match app ‘STAR PLAYER’ across the country. Generating 22,000 sign-ups and nightly average of 12,000 users.

  • Heineken Music Electric Picnic sponsorship launch - ice block tickets activation. We live streamed a melting ice-sculpture of a giant can with a pair of VIP Electric Picnic tickets frozen inside. Fans were prompted to guess what hour:min:sec the tickets would drop to win. We created a purpose-built website to house the stream and prompt people to enter. We also ran a design your own Heineken (YourHeineken) bottle competition with artists and creatives.

  • Rugby World Cup - I had the privilege of managing Heineken’s RWC campaign featuring All Blacks legend, Zinzan Brooke. From media relations and press releases to on-site management of photocall and social media content.

  • Heineken Dropped - One global competition to find Heineken’s ‘man of the world’, someone who lives for spontaneous adventures and oozes charm. We created a series of bespoke “Dropped” stunts to find our guy including Diwali Floating Lanterns on the canal, floating meditative monks at Stephen’s Green, the Bazaar Fortune Teller on Soth William Street, and the “Dropped” embassy, where finalists used charm/smarts/humour/curiousity to make their way in and eventually to the ultimate prize - waking up handcuffed to a random person from another country off an island in Bali.