Heineken rolls out 'Holiday Troubles' campaign starting with 15 APAC markets

Heineken APAC has launched its global campaign targeting various festive seasons, initially rolling out in 15 Asian markets in the first quarter of 2019.  Building on the brand's new global creative approach of a “refreshing perspective on common beliefs”, Heineken’s new campaign aims to invite people to enjoy the holiday season to the fullest, by offering a “fresh perspective” on the mishaps that occur during the festive season. Prior to the launch of the campaign, Heineken interviewed consumers across the region in search of inspiring insights, before preparing the campaign. While rituals and festivals vary from one country to the other, one key theme consistently re-emerged was the “thrive for perfection” as well as how seldom things turn out as planned. In this context, Heineken decoded to lend a fresh and witty way of perceiving the season’s imperfections. The first nine countries that campaign will roll out in include Indonesia, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Laos, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. The media agencies are different in each country, while Publicis Singapore was the strategic and creative agency behind the campaign. This new festive initiative is digital at the core and is a fully integrated, through-the-line campaign headlined by TV, supported by an outdoor blitz, and retail activation. The campaign is mobile-first, focusing content on online and social platforms, using iDDM and targeted media as placement strategy. Apart from three 30-sec TV ads, the campaign includes 15 and six seconds videos and GIFs titled "Holiday Troubles." These clips also relay the campaign idea, brand role and call-to-action. The campaign is also designed in a modular way to push relevant content at a local level. Be it mobile or OOH, there's content on Chinese New Year, Vietnamese TET, Christmas and New Year, allowing the campaign to adapt and perform throughout different markets in the region followed by the rest of the world. Maud Meijboom, brand development and communication director, Heineken APAC said that the demand from the APAC countries for relevant content was high. "The festive season is an important period where people strive for perfection - being the perfect host, the perfect chef, the perfect gift-giver. And with that, the perfect beer! Until now, Heineken hasn’t built a through the line campaign around this festive period. Exploring local insights together with the markets revealed a surprising fact: No matter how different cultures are, each one shares the same desire to make festive celebrations perfect. Inevitably, however, things go wrong. Heineken's role is to offer a fresh perspective: why not enjoy these troubles as part of tradition?," she added. “With the many diverse festivals and rituals across so many markets, creating one ‘festive’ campaign is challenging. Thankfully, mishaps happen in every culture; they’re the oldest tradition of all. Dispelling the myth of perfection and bringing a bit of levity to proceedings is the perfect role for Heineken,"  Ed Booty, chief strategy officer, Publicis Communications, APAC said.