Spikes Asia 2022 Winner, 2 Bronzes in Mobile Category

New York Festivals 2022, Gold • Bronze • Finalist

Campaign Brief’s The Work 2022, 6 Acceptances

Cannes Lions 2022, Brand Experience & Activation Finalist

ADC Awards New York 2022, Finalist

The One Show 2022, Finalist

The Brief

In Vietnam’s young, highly competitive, fast growing beer market, Heineken Original was ageing fast. One of the most visible signs, was our packaging. Brands winning with young adults had already shifted to sleek (tall & slim) cans, Heineken was still holding onto the traditional (short & fat) one. We realized, to change their perception of us, we had to change our cans first.

The Challenge

Open any convenience store fridge and chances are (whether you’re reaching for a beer or not) you will end up with a sleek can in hand. While the launch of a new can was a big thing for us, it wasn’t a big deal to young drinkers. If we wanted to send a signal that this was more than just a packaging change, we would have to elevate the drinking experience and look at this from an entirely new angle.

The Idea

Heineken pioneered electronic music in Vietnam, what if we could bring this innovative spirit back to launch our new can. We started with a simple observation. No matter what angle you look at the sleek can, only two letters of the brand name are visible. What if we could find a way to let our drinkers play with these two-letter combinations and match them to the names of some of the hottest local and international talent?

The Solution

We formed a first of its kind partnership with Spotify and created a bespoke Letter Recognition AI and AR algorithm that transformed every can into a personalized virtual juke box. When users scanned the can, every turn of the logo unlocked an exciting new audio-visual experience. The different two letter combinations enabled our audience to add the artists’ names that match the two letters to create their unique playlist which created an additional layer of engagement, making every can their very own backstage pass.