Quiet Please
Heineken USA
Issue 33 | December 2014
Agency
Wieden+Kennedy New York
Creative Team
ECDs Susan Hoffman David Kolbusz CDs Nathaniel Lawlor Erik Norin Eric Steele Creatives Cory Everett Mike Vitiello The Kennedys
Production Team
LEGS Agency Production Luiza Naritomi Blakely McKnight Orlee Tatarka Kristen Johnson Naheem Kujenya
Other Credits
Digital Strategy Jessica Abercrombie Tom Gibby Brand Strategy Kelly Lynn Wright Account Team Patrick Cahill Kristen Herrington Sam Wagner
Date
August - September 2014
Background
The aim was to create a campaign that would generate conversation about Heineken and its sponsorship of the US Open tennis championships by demonstrating the brand's ongoing mission to challenge and inspire people to experience the benefits of leaving their comfort zone, in a tennis-related way.
Idea
With a seating capacity of over 23,000, Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, was the biggest tennis venue in the world, which meant that the rowdy New York crowd was also the loudest in the game. But during play, it was one man's job to silence those cheers - the umpire. In order to create a unique challenge that gave tennis fans a chance to win tickets to the Open, a custom umpire's chair was built, and placed in one of NYC's busiest thoroughfares, Union Square. It was equipped with sensors that measured the volume of noise nearby. Passers-by were offered the chance to win tickets, but only if they were willing to sit in the chair, become the centre of attention while addressing the crowd and figure out how to silence hundreds of bustling New Yorkers.
Results
On a tiny budget, the video attracted 350K views on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
99% of Youtube views were organic. And 71% of all viewers watched to the end.
15.57% Facebook ER with 2.1K mentions.
Our Thoughts
This is a nice little stunt, primarily for New Yorkers to enjoy. They know how brash, how excitable, how loud they are. So they would have found this amusing. The girl in the film who pulled it off and got Union Square to shush deserved her tickets for her cunning strategy.