#MarketingEventsAwards 2020 highlight: How Heineken MY drew consumers to Tiger Crystal with a chilly experience

The sweltering heat in Malaysia is perfect for a brand like Tiger Crystal that wants to quench the thirst of consumers. Beyond the usual beer that consumers have become accustomed to, Heineken Malaysia decided to roll out a new product named Tiger Crystal and have consumers experience what it is like to drink a chilled bottle beer in a room that is below zero degrees Celsius. Together with brand marketing agency ConnectDots, the two teams came up with an interesting product launch campaign which resulted in ConnectDots winning bronze for the Best Consumer Event: Product Launch/Re-Launch and Best Event Production categories at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s recent Marketing Events Awards 2020. It also came up as a finalist in the Best Experiential Marketing category.

Challenge

The teams at Heineken and ConnectDots saw potential in creating a creative product launch experience for consumers. However, the challenge was to mimic a truly winter experience in the midst of Malaysia’s sweltering heat. Besides creating merely a cold room, the brand had to ensure that participants will be able to see their breaths when they speak. To top off the icy experience, the brand also had to think of ways to incorporate its Tiger Crystal beer into the experience.

In addition to the winter experience, the team also wanted the product launch event to be an interactive one. Hence, it had to think beyond just photo opportunities but incorporate games and performances into the event launch.

Strategy

To encourage on ground sampling of the new beer, Heineken and ConnectDots made consumers register for the event online to obtain two free bottles during the event at Publika. Upon entering the event area, consumers will walk through a creative photo op depicting the filtration process of Tiger Crystal. Product education was also seeded seamlessly into the process through a simplified replica of a distillation factory.

At the same time, the team also invited prominent key opinion leaders (KOLs) such as Stephy Yi Wen, Diorlynn, Dududoodle, as well as radio announcers Arnold and Dennis Yin to spread the word of the event. It also dedicated a full night of media day for all prominent media outlets and KOLs. The KOL engagement coupled with offering consumers two free bottles at the event upon registration aimed to show consumers that Tiger Crystal is the perfect beer suited for Malaysia’s hot humid climate.

Meanwhile, the team custom built an ice room that took seven days to set up. During the event, guests were given a pair of gloves and a winter jacket before stepping into the cold room. Inside the room, consumers were also served a glass of Tiger Crystal beer in a glass made of ice. At the same time, it also engaged up to five food vendors to serve a range of food from main courses to light bites and desserts.

Execution

In addition to having KOLs push out content and share more about Tiger Crystal ahead of the launch in Publika, Heineken also pushed out print ads to drive sampling and gain more attention. The ads are printed on a special ink which will only be visible when it is cold. To redeem a free bottle, consumers had to cut out the print ads, place them in the fridge before heading off to the store to redeem them.

As for its cold room, the team had brought together 50 individuals for the seven-day set up and three giant industrial air conditioners. To encourage more sales, the team also created an interactive game via a customised vending machine, during which consumers had to play a game of Tiger Crystal Ice Breaker. To play the game, consumers had to make a purchase at the bar to receive a game voucher.

Additionally, the event also featured performances from bands including Ryot Jones, Kaya Band, An Honest Mistake, as well as Preston and Kent. Heineken also ensured that the venue was decorated in a white and blueish hue to set the cold tone. Props such as fake snow was used.

Results

The team saw a 95.6% attendance and had a total of 6,612 online registrations. Also, 6,321 bottles were redeemed and sampled throughout the three-day event including the media launch day. The overall KOL postings for macro influencers also had a potential reach of 1.8 million, while the micro influencers generated about 300,000 in potential reach. According to the brand, the campaign also garnered up to 42 media clippings which amount to more than RM2 million in PR value. The post media quality index also showed that the campaign gained a score of 100% in overall positive tones from all media coverage.