Heineken USA invited travellers at New York JFK International Airport to play a game of ‘Departure Roulette’ last month, in the latest twist on the brand’s Global Voyage activation.
Heineken explained that this real-life, real-time social experiment activation plays on a common travel fantasy. “We’ve probably all fantasised about turning up at the airport with just a passport, credit card and smart phone and choosing our destination from the screens. Or sitting waiting for a business flight perhaps we idly imagine which destination we’d rather go to before getting on our scheduled flight to that meeting in Frankfurt, Hong Kong or Dubai. But how many of us would actually be brave enough to take a chance and choose an unknown adventure given such a real opportunity?”
Heineken presented this very opportunity at JFK by inviting passengers at random to press a button on an old-style flight clicker board – in return, they must promise to cancel their current flight plans and instead head off immediately for the destination that appeared on the board.
The first lucky participant was Greg Vositis, a student from the University of Connecticut who, instead of travelling to Vienna at 5.15pm to visit his grandparents, ended up flying to Cyprus later that evening for two nights with paid accommodation and US$2000 to cover expenses. Heineken also arranged a flight from Cyprus to Vienna later that same week and from Vienna back to New York on 25 August to tie in with his original plans.
Seven other lucky travellers also won trips to destinations including Portugal, Thailand and Laos.
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Greg Vositis, the first lucky participant of Heineken’s ‘Departure Roulette’ at JFK International Airport, chose to fly to Cyprus instead of Vienna |
Heineken Global Duty Free Marketing Manager Natascha Waterbeek commented: “Although this is not a duty free activation as such, as a global brand Heineken takes a holistic approach that engages seamlessly across all channels in all markets. Heineken is the number one premium international beer available in 198 countries around the world; therefore, airlines and airports with their international nature are a strategic fit and perfect channel for us. We want to inspire our consumers to be resourceful and open to the world.
“Innovation is at the heart of how we are redefining the beer category throughout travel retail with specially designed concepts that make the category into much more of a premium proposition than in the past. In airports we are growing the number of Heineken bars and lounges at the world’s leading hubs as well as delivering excitement with events like this one at JFK. On ferries and at border stores we’re creating stand-out at point of purchase with travel specific designs like ‘Beers of the World’ displays which introduce our broader range of portfolio brands next to Heineken appealing to the traveller’s mindset in situ. On cruise ships we’re really seeing the commercial benefits of bringing a spirit of entertainment through bar staff training to create the perfect pouring ritual via the ‘Heineken Star Serve’ on board edition.
“We’re actively developing much more innovation as a core aspect of our strategy in travel retail and will be revealing details of some of these at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes in October.”
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Click to view Heineken’s ‘Departure Roulette’ activation at JFK Airport on YouTube |
The JFK activation was inspired by the current global multimedia campaign ‘Voyage’, the fifth instalment of the Heineken ‘Legends’ platform, featuring the original legend ‘Dropped’ in a remote outpost in India and finding himself in bizarre situations when he loses his pet goat. As a “true man of the world”, he knows how to navigate this new world with ease, even if he finds himself in unfamiliar territory.
The integrated campaign comprises four further editions showing different men being tested in situations that are beyond their comfort zone.
Launched globally on 3 June, the first episode featured Rikar, a Spanish waiter, being dropped off in the middle of Alaska with only a tuxedo and plane tickets. On 1 July the second edition showed Stavros, a yoga teacher and dancer from Greece, reacting to being plunged into the middle of Cambodia, blindfolded, and presented with a giant yellow duck boat. Running since 22 July is the third instalment depicting a New Yorker dropped in Morocco where, after lugging a massive block of ice, he comes to face “the importance of letting go to become a true traveller”, Heineken said. The next episode launches on 12 August.
The campaign – which runs on a variety of platforms across broadcast, digital and mobile – allows consumers to have a truly immersive experience via the Heineken Dropped YouTube channel. Here, viewers can follow each ‘Dropped’ voyage, access documentary-style content and also contribute their own video entries. Consumers who buy special Global Voyage campaign packs of Heineken can redeem a code to play an online game of navigation skills with the chance to win a memorable travel experience.
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The 1 July episode of the ‘Voyage’ campaign features Stavros, a yoga teacher and dancer from Greece, being ‘dropped’ in Cambodia and presented with a giant yellow duck boat |
