If ever a brand made the most of a sponsorship, it’s Heineken. The beer brand pays around $65m a year to attach its name to the Champions League, and agency Le Pub has been right behind it all the way to the Munich final this weekend.
“Fancom” is big business (and cheaper than bringing in star players), and the campaign this year has been built around the “Cheers to the superstitious fans” idea. Here Heineken despatches one of them to a remote location, with a mini-pub in tow, because the fan believes he jinxes his team when he goes to see them in person.
Nabil Nasser, global head of Heineken, says: “We’ve always believed that football is nothing without its fans—and that includes the wonderfully superstitious ones. Whether it’s wearing the same shirt, sitting in the same seat, or, in this case, staying away from the action, these rituals are a huge part of what makes fandom so special. The bar is our way of celebrating that devotion, and one fan’s heroic choice to support their team from a very safe distance.”
The spot neatly mirrors the one they made for the women’s Champions League final last weekend (below), in which Heineken took a mini version of two Arsenal fans’ “lucky pub” to Lisbon for the match against Barcelona.
Arsenal won – so Heineken may even be on to something. Although this Inter Milan fan might not be so lucky against favourites PSG.
MAA creative scale: 7.5
