Title	DESPERADOS – WHEN THE EVENING TURNS INTO THE NIGHT. A.M.
Brand	DESPERADOS (HEINEKEN)
Product/Service	BEER
Category	A02. NON-FICTION: SERIES OR FILM
Media Agency 3	STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Entrant Company	STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Agency	VICE MEDIA BENELUX Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Agency 2	STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Joris Lak	Starcom Mediavest Group	Head Of Digital
Peter Bout	Starcom Mediavest Group	Marketing Services/Producer
Emiel Cochius	Starcom Mediavest Group	Digital Consultant
Richard Van Der Wilk	Starcom Mediavest Group	Chief Strategy/Innovation Officer
Mees Maks	VICE Media Benelux	Head Of Virtue
Naique tanate	VICE Media Benelux	Advice Network Manager
Nadine Ridder	VICE Media Benelux	Account/Strategy
Edwin Beijer	Starcom Mediavest Group	Strategy
Sanne Lubbers	Starcom Mediavest Group	Rtv Consultant

The Campaign

Branded Entertainment is a means to an end, but sometimes used by lot of brands without the believes from the core of the brand to play in that game. Desperados is not just about entertainment, but more a movement that relies on credible content. The Dutch landscape is able to amplify such content with that credible heritage through it's developed digital environment and the ability to have consumers take control. But...for alcohol there are many regulations and it is crucial not to just target audiences and risking 'penalties'. A strategy that relies on the control of the core audience was able to be set up in the landscape to be amongst the right core audience, a segment that was hard to reach and engage through custom channels and mass broadcasting was not the solution and fit the regulations for our audience. Because of the Dutch landscape, branded content is reaching a clutter level and it is getting harder to break through with the right audience. Data and personalization is used to pinpoint the right individuals to start the spark where content creates it's relevance - exactly what we did for Desperados A.M.

Results

Desperados’ marketing challenge in 2013 is to get young adults to choose Desperados when they want to enhance their party spirit, instead of a mix or cocktail. A big challenge because our young target audience (18-24) is hard to influence when it comes to change their (party)behaviour. For these active, ‘urban’ and digital natives, the nightlife and parties are a key element of their busy off- & online social lives. As Desperados stands for a festive brand that releases and spread wild fun, our idea was ruthlessly simple which sets Desperados at the centre of nightlife. Desperados claimed a strong and special moment in the party-scene; a moment when drinking beer turns into drinking something more energizing and fun... and the night changes in an unforgettable party. This is THE moment to choose for Desperados! This Desperados moment became known as; ‘A.M.’ when the evening turns in to the night! We wanted to bond with our audience based on their own intrinsic interests, were we identified great content and always-on-presence within social media as key components to successfully reach and captivate them. We created ‘AM’ content and experiences, which resulted in two unique documentaries about the Amsterdam & Rotterdam nightlife. This exclusive and inspiring documentary-series, with Desperados placed in the centre, showcases the nightlife scenes through some of the most known & interesting party-influentials. Each documentary was launched at PR-events, where we invited press, media and party-influencers. After the PR screening, the event turned into a massive party. After the launches, the documentaries were seeded in two specific campaigns, one focused on each city. Via a multichannel approach, in highly relevant party & music umfield (online, TV & social media) our AM story was told. We created engagement, build fan-base and kept momentum around the events through a series of (short) videos and posts

One could say we played it save, but we'd like to think we played it credible and agile. Discoverability is crucial for our audience to pick up and spread our A.M. message. The post evaluation showed the incredible statements our audience rated Desperados content and presence. This was the proof that our documentary approach through influential nightlife speakers was the right one and we unleashed each documentary at PR-events, where we invited press, media and party-influencers. After the PR screening, the event turned into a massive party. From that moment on we were relevant and always on with our audience

A.M. was extemely successful. We’ve reached appr. 39% of our core audience resulting in 500.000 video-plays and generated over 27.000 new Facebook-fans, increasing the engagement with the Desperados-brand. Secondly, the added value of generated PR around this campaign is estimated at €150.000,-. Third, the campaign & documentaries were very well received by our target audience and had very good scores on brand equity (+8%), credibility & relevancy; which helped achieve a strong brand impact. The positioning of Desperados was strengthened with, in particular, an increase in closeness and preference results. The campaign increased overall brand consideration by 18% (source: Metrixlab).