Open Your World – Worlds Apart
Heineken UK
Issue 45 | December 2017
Agency
Publicis London
Creative Team
Global Chief Creative Officer (Publicis Worldwide) Bruno Bertelli Executive Creative Director (Publicis London) Dave Monk Executive Creative Director (Publicis Italy) Cristiana Boccassini Heineken Global Digital Creative Director (Publicis Italy) Milos Obradovic Heineken Creative Director (Publicis London) Marcus Illes Creatives Seb Howling, Dom Desmond, Mark Daw, Rudhraigh Mcgrath
Production Team
Production Company RSA Director Toby Dye Editor Julian Eguiguren Producer Ben Porter Post-Production Company MPC
Other Credits
Worldwide Account Director David Pagnoni Global Account Manager Derek Muller Planning Director Sol Ghafoor Planners Chris Turner, James Moore Managing Director Trent Patterson Account Director Katherine Thompson Head of Production Colin Hickson Media Buying Agency Mediavest Media Planner Mediavest
Date
April 2017
Background
2016. The year of Brexit. The year of Trump. A year where the divisive and polarising forces in the world were closing down on communities rather than keeping them open. The problem was, tucked up in their cosy echo-chambers and digital filter bubbles, people had become used to only hearing views that corresponded with their own. They didn't see, let alone listen to, opinions that opposed their own.
It had become all too easy to label others rather than try to understand them. Heineken's brand purpose was expressed in the line 'Open Your World'. They wanted to show that even the most divided people can open up when they find common ground.
Idea
A social experiment was devised with the help of Dr. Govinda Clayton, a conflict resolution specialist, in which two strangers with polarised views were brought together to discuss their differences and, hopefully, find some mutual understanding.
Unrehearsed, unscripted and using real people, not actors, the experiment showed that even the most divided people can find common ground.
Simply having a conversation, creating dialogue by listening to the other person, minds opened and then the world.
Results
With social content principles advising towards short-form edits, the 4.5 minute film seemed to break all the rules. It has been viewed a total of 17.7 million times, 13.6 million organically, with millions more views on fan and media channels. It generated 625+ articles and new stories, becoming a trending topic on Twitter. It was the #1 ad on YouTube, leading to several reaction videos and a couple of parodies. In total, it generated 324,000 engagements, 531,000 shares and as the film continues to travel the world, with a reach of 2 billion, so does the message of openness.
Our Thoughts
Just when Pepsi showed us the dark side of branded content with Kendall Jenner sharing a coke with a fake policeman, up pops Heineken with pretty much the same story. Two people with very different world-views brought together over a drink. Only in this instance the video features real people rather than actors, real issues rather than some make-believe nonsense and makes a real point about human nature. That we almost always have more in common than we have differences.
This idea of reconciliation over a drink is not new. I remember Lipton Tea in Australia bringing 'enemies' together over a cuppa back in the 90s. But what Marcus Iles and his team have done is execute the strategy in a way that is not only credible, fresh and heart-warming, it works perfectly on Facebook and YouTube, where adverts are usually skipped or scrolled over.