To have an impactful and successful online campaign is to have a goal, a strategy, and a message that is relevant to the audience. The campaign should spark a conversation between individuals who have different opinions and taking a risk to do something controversial and uncomfortable to have a powerful and positive output. Let's talk about Heineken and its campaign titled Open Your World.
Heineken is a Dutch brewing company that specializes in beer. It was founded by Gerard Heineken in 1864 and is now one of the most recognizable products in the Netherlands. It is also known to be the most popular beverage in the world with its signature green bottles with a red star attached to it. Gerard Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries.
In April 2017, Heineken launched the campaign that tackles social issues titled "Open Your World" (after their tagline) or "Worlds Apart". The campaign is based on a social experiment where two different people with different backgrounds or beliefs meet together for the first time, trying to find a common ground between the two with the accompaniment of the beverage. What the company is trying to portray in the campaign is to prove that people should not judge others based on what they believe in and see past a label as one who beliefs in one thing while the other whos beliefs are different can come together and have a casual conversation in hopes to gain a common ground over a pint of beer. Taking real political differences and bring out the humanity behind them is a smart move for the company as it reinstates an empowering belief in kindness and understanding. Heineken partners with The Human Library, a unique non-profit organization that seeks to overcome stereotypes by running an event where people can converse with others who have extraordinary backgrounds.
The campaign was promoted through Facebook which garnered over 3 million views, eight days after its launched alongside 50,000 shares in the first month, and sparked a trending hashtag #OpenYourWorld. It has been covered in multiple outlets from CNN and MSNBC to published articles to celebrities praising the campaign and so much more. Aside from Facebook and Twitter, the campaign become the number trend on YouTube in its intial release as well as being on the front page of Reddit, several online reactions and parodies about the advertising. The campaign has generated widespread global engagement across 150 countries. With how sucessful the campaign become, Heineken has garnered an increase of sales.
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| Image Source The overall recption from audience have been mostly positive. They have praised Heineken for its positive message and openess to create a conversation between individuals with differing beliefs. David Hobart of Pure Content wrote that Heineken believe that brands can deliver sucessful content campaigns with a purpose if given the right tone and are realistic about their achievements. He commented how Heineken's ad resonates with viewers and consumers alike with 97% positive sentiments during its first few weeks. Heineken’s campaign has already been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube, and it shows that brands have a unique opportunity to enter meaningful conversations with consumers about important subjects. Although there have been positive coverage, let's not forget the negative ones. In a 2017 article from The Daily Edge titled "Why that 'powerful' Heineken ad is just as problematic as Kendall Jenner's Pepsi ad", Kelly Early, the author of the article, has criticized Heineken 's campaign for being problematic dramatic alongside the concept being acted out as a lackluster sitcom and considers that "beer will not unite the workers of the world." Despite the backlash, she has made some vaild points as well. She points out how the ad fuels the narrative that we need to hear everyone out as well as having converations like the one portrayed in the advertisement a little useful in a way that the company had great intentions but poor execution. To quote a passage in the article, "I'm sure this is a nice starting point for him to overcome some of his issues but you should not have to personally know a transgender person to accept the validity of their lives." Kelly also added that it is not every person's (or minority) job to sit down and explain their lives to those who do not understand what they're going through or what they had experienced. With that has resulted in people who refused to engage in these types of conversation when being told tat they're too uptight or simply doesn't undertsand the whole picture. She ended the article with how it is exhausting to identify as the minority who had to deal with on a daily basis and being told that they need to sit and have the beer with the majority to help them understand the world. "Engaging in debate takes a huge emotional toll on vulnerable people who are constantly forced to legitimase their identities and existence." Early is not the only person who feels that way. Mark Ritson of Marketing Week considered Heinken's campaign is absolute crap. He did agree with the viewpoints that is expressed by minorites within the ad but he does not see what these important topics and the beer have to do with each other. "This is not an ad about Heineken, it's an ad about people having a beer to talk over their differences." He is aware that the company wanted to create a dialogue and promoted a series of progressive causes and respect for divergent viewpoints but it will not make Heineken to sell more beer. A campaign that does no harm does not measure sucess. He ended the article with Heineken not being a familiar green beer that people can buy right now nor is it an important middle ground in achieveing world harmony, it's something in between. To the company's defense, Cindy Tervoot, head of marketing at Heineken UK, commented in Habort's article about how important it is for people to understand that the company doesn't feel that they have the answer and that they're going to solve all problem. But they can contribute and bring people together. In an interview from Contagious, she mentioned that the campaign wasn't so much for the company to express its views on the topic but to focus on people who have different opinions. "There are always going to be different views and not everybody will agree with each other, of course." She thinks that the company can take a big step in creating a more understanding and encouraging people to listen to one another and she felt that they can play a credible role there. Tony Hale (not to be confused with the actor of the same name) explained in the article written by Elle Hunt on the Guardian about how the company doesn't take any line as they understand that there's a great deal of frustration about the divisive and many sensational ways in which these issues are discussed. Many have compared Heineken's campaign to Pepsi's infamous attempt to meddle both sides as the former is the antitode or the fixture of the latter while others find the former's campaign to be the same as the latter's. Good advertisements have longevity while the bad ones become forgotten very quickly with the exception of Pepsi as people are still talking about it no matter how bad is the execution of their campaign. Hale pointed out the irony of Heineken struggling to move on more than Pepsi and to quote him, "because you can always fill the void of a bad ad with a good ad. The harder thing is to come back from a great ad with a better ad." With its powerful message, worldwide coverage from both positive and negative sides, it's no wonder that Heineken's Open Your World campaign had become the most impactful digital campaigns of 2017. |
Sources;
7 of the Most Impactful Digital Campaigns of 2017... So Far
A Brief History of Heineken Brewery by Tom Coggins (2019)
Heineken says brands can drive social change with the right content by David Hobart (2017)
Insight & Strategy: Worlds Apart (2017)
Mark Ritson: Heineken should remember marketing is about profit, not purpose (2017)
Open Your World
Open Your World by Daniel J. Edelman (2019)
Our heritage
That Heineken ad: brewer tackles how to talk to your political opposite by Elle Hunt (2017)
What Makes A Digital Marketing Campaign Successful? by Brenna Keough (2014)
Why that Heineken ad is just as problematic as Kendall Jenner's Pepsi ad by Kelly Early (2017)
Worlds Apart
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