Amsterdam, July 14th 2014 - Heineken® has today unveiled @wherenext, a revolutionary new digital experience part of the fully-integrated global campaign, 'Cities of the World'. The Twitter-based @wherenext service aims to help consumers explore new experiences of their cities, using a brand new and innovative social tool. The digital experience of the 'Cities of the World' campaign marks a milestone in the evolution of Heineken's digital marketing strategy.
Acting as a social compass, @wherenext reads the pulse of a city by using real-time location-based social activity to show where is hot and guide urbanites to new adventures off their beaten track. The real-time recommendations engine will help consumers answer that eternal night-out question, 'Where next?' The real-time activity will also be provided on a mobile responsive website www.heineken.com/openyourcity for access to all consumers around the world.
The new digital platform - developed in collaboration with R/GA London - is a solution to findings from recent Heineken research which revealed that consumers experience a 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) on the exciting experiences in their city.
The research also showed how consumers from different cities seek a different 'social currency' in each urban environment. People who live in them want to break from routine, experience new places and embark on urban adventures that will add to their social currency. For example, New Yorkers see 'making it' as the ultimate social currency whereas people from Rio de Janeiro see happiness as the absolute mark of achievement. For Londoners, it's all about personal development and defining success for themselves.
"Our world-class marketing campaigns are global, integrated and digitally-driven as everything we do is inspired by and oriented towards our fans. The success of the Heineken brand is rooted in a commitment to continual innovation," said Gianluca Di Tondo, Senior Brand Director Global Heineken Brand.
"We boldly break away from traditional beer marketing approaches to create stories that inspire people to be courageous and aspirational. @wherenext and Cities of the World is the latest iteration of Heineken strategy, using rich consumer insights to respond to their desires to explore the great adventures in their cities."
The social-media-based service uses a unique algorithm that listens to social media activity, such as tweets, check-ins and photos across popular platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare and analyses which locations are trending. The platform will help people navigate nightlife, overcome their fear of missing out and live their city to the fullest.
JP Maheu, Managing Director, Global Brand & Agency Strategy at Twitter, said: "Heineken is a consistently innovative brand on Twitter, and we're excited to see them continue this into the lifestyle and entertainment space with the @wherenext campaign.
"The initiative is really creative use of Twitter. It's well-suited to the real-time and mobile nature of the platform and will give fans a window into the most vibrant experiences in cities around the world, right in the palm of their hand."
Heineken will put @wherenext to the test by launching a global, live televised social experiment that will see real people in three cities challenged to uncover the best kept secrets in a race against the clock. More details to be released in July 2014.
See @wherenext in action at http://youtu.be/hiUsikDoU1Q.
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Notes to Editors:
More about Heineken's Cities of the World Campaign
Cities of the World is a fully integrated campaign that includes a 2 minute TVC, digital innovation @wherenext and special edition Heineken® bottles.
Heineken's latest TVC 'The City' launched globally on May 12th as the first stage of the 'Cities of the World' campaign. It is the seventh film under 'The Legends' series featuring Men of the World who are pushed to discover their limits and go beyond them.
The special edition bottles, will all have one of six global cities printed on it; New York, Shanghai, Berlin, Amsterdam, London & Rio de Janeiro, and will be available globally.
More about @wherenext - how does it work?
- The platform uses a unique algorithm that listens to social media activity, including:
- tweets
- check-ins
- photos
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- This data is pulled from popular social media sources, including:
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Foursquare
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- @wherenext uses this data to analyse where and what is trending
- Users must tweet '@wherenext' plus their location (e.g. @wherenext Shoreditch) and @wherenext will produce recommendations on where to find the next hidden gem in their city
About Heineken®
The Heineken brand, that bears the founder's family name - Heineken - is available in almost every country across the globe and is the world's most valuable international premium beer brand.
To follow Heineken® on Twitter visit www.twitter.com/heineken and to become a fan on Facebook go to www.facebook.com/heineken. To view videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/heineken.
Press Enquiries
Marnie Kontovraki, Heineken International
Tel : +31 (0) 20 5239 355 / pressoffice@heineken.com
