People can be quite skeptical about 0% alcohol beers, even more so in Thailand where it’s still a fairly new concept. But since Heineken 0.0 does feel like the real thing, before anything, we needed to get people to try it.

As the official sponsors of the world’s biggest events, Heineken wouldn’t settle with just a regular sampling activation. Instead, we officially sponsored people’s everyday non-beer occasions anywhere and anytime. They made their requests on social media and we speeded up to deliver their customised sponsorship packs with perfectly chilled cans of Heineken 0.0.

With 0.0, Heineken was launching a new category in Thailand. Research informed us that, as in most new markets, the 0% alcohol beer would indeed face skepticism. Initial focus groups and blind-tests however indicated that consumers actually liked it, a great deal of them even unable to differentiate the 0.0 version. So we needed people to try it. We had a sampling activation brief, but for a brand like Heineken we always need to carry the wit and the style. Since it is the official sponsor of some the world’s biggest events, why not this time sponsor people’s individual activities instead? That way, we could not only get people to try it, but also create new drinking occasions and increase overall frequency.

We approached beer lovers through social media channels, kickstarting the Heineken 0.0 promo. Hundreds requested their individual sponsorships and we delivered. The events soon began to get shared online, with news pages and social influencers soon picking up to create a massive online buzz. Within one month, 20,000 people attended the non-beer events in Bangkok alone.

We received more than 1,500 sponsorship requests, with over 20,000 people attending the officially sponsored events. 80,000 cans were delivered. The campaign had a total 96 million impressions. In just 3 months, Heineken has sold 3.8 million cans (82% of the full year KPI), bringing Heineken 0.0 into people’s daily lives and their most ordinary moments.