#TBT: Heineken Gives Bars a Helping Ad

Almost every industry in this world has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic one way or another. Still, amongst the sectors that have been hit hard by the world health crisis was the bar industry, which was put on hold in order to stop the spread of the virus. With the COVID-19 closing the bars’ shutters, pub owners were struggling for their business to survive, hoping that it won’t take long until the light at the end of the tunnel will start glimmering.

The on-trade businesses are Heineken‘s biggest partners so, to show that it got their backs during these difficult times, the brewing company turned to Publicis Italy to help it create a perfect “beer-and-bar symbiosis.” The “Shutter Ads” initiative took shape, an award-winning campaign that saw Heineken turning into the knight in shining armor bars needed so much in order to face the pandemic-related challenges. It is a story of real friendship — which we are going to focus on during this week’s #ThrowBrandThursday column — that made both the brand and the bars happy.

COVID-19 affected not only bars but Heineken as well — which lost almost 70% of its revenue. However, the impact on the pub and restaurant industry was far worse: Besides losing revenue, people were forgetting about their local hangouts and that’s because many bar owners had to close their shutters — you know, those panels people use to secure a window or a door. Playing the role of a guardian isn’t the only thing these covers can do. And Heineken knows it because it saw the real potential these shutters really hold: That of being a perfect media space, a canvas, if you may, where the brand gets to paint its ads.

Via the Shutter Ads, the brand turned the bars’ closed shutters into OOH ads, redirecting the existing media budget from outdoors to the shutters of more than 5000 bars in 15 cities around the globe. Pubs in Argentina, Spain, Italy, and Germany hosted messages such as “See this ad today, enjoy this bar tomorrow,” assuring consumers that their loved bars will reopen their doors eventually.

As more bars joined every week, the campaign drew other brands’ attention: Amstel and Cruzcampo, also Heineken-owned brands, embraced the idea of supporting pubs using the parent company’s formula. Even better: Sharing the same feelings of love towards bars, breweries such as Guinness and Paulaner joined as well.

The initiative started as a “helping ad” Heineken gave to the bars but it was so much more: Compared to traditional OOH, Shutter Ads brought in 40% media value, 7.5 million euros went directly to bars, and 100% of the pubs featured in the campaign reopened.