| Title | HEROES OF THE NIGHT |
| Brand | ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV GERMANY HOLDING GMBH |
| Product/Service | BECK'S |
| Category |
D02. Use of Mobile & Devices |
|
Entrant
|
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Idea Creation
|
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Media Placement
|
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Media Placement 2
|
PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Production
|
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Production 2
|
PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY
|
|
Additional Company
|
MATTHIAS SCHARDT Wuppertal, GERMANY
|
Credits
| Alexander Schill |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Global Chief Creative Officer |
| Thomas Heyen |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Managing Partner |
| Markus Kremer |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Managing Partner |
| Florian Klietz |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Managing Partner |
| Kristian von Elm |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Management Supervisor |
| Mariah Kattmann |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Junior Account Manager |
| Sebastien Stabenau |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Design Director |
| Ronnie Patt |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Creative Director Art |
| Jan-Erik Scheibner |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Senior Copywriter |
| Matthias Schardt |
Matthias Schardt |
Illustrator |
| Markus Maczey |
PLAN.NET |
Managing Director / CEO |
| Jonas Heitzer |
PLAN.NET |
Creative Coder |
| Alexander Kneifel |
PLAN.NET |
Junior UX/UI Designer |
| Marco Dinoto |
PLAN.NET |
Trainee Account Management |
| Jeferson Lopes Cocate |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Senior Account Manager |
| Efim Tamplon |
PLAN.NET |
Junior Creative Coder |
| Lee Sharrock |
SERVICEPLAN GERMANY |
Global PR |
Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?
Popular beer brand Beck’s is a mandatory at every party in Germany and the perfect companion for a legendary night out. In 2018, Beck’s wanted to own the nightlife experience, so we made the brand become an integral part of it–by “hacking” our way into WhatsApp group-chats: the place, where night out stories are started, documented and ended. Simply the best media spot to make the brand’s claim “You make it legendary.” experienceable in form of a unique hero comic! The outcome? Beck’s turned every chat protocol into an unforgettable piece of art–directly viewable and shareable on the phone.
background
Over the last few years, younger target groups are increasingly turning away from drinking beer. At the same time, it becomes harder for brands to reach them via traditional channels like TV – since they’re spending lots of time on social platforms like WhatsApp. So, Beck’s was looking for a way to become part of the conversation again. During a time where our target group was flocking to cinemas to see Marvel Superhero films, we came up with the perfect solution: “Heroes of the Night”. The first app that turns every WhatsApp group chat into an individualized superhero comic.
Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)
Over the last few years, younger target groups are increasingly turning away from drinking beer. At the same time, it becomes harder for brands to reach them via traditional channels like TV – since they’re spending lots of time on social platforms like WhatsApp. So, Beck’s was looking for a way to become part of the conversation again. During a time where our target group was flocking to cinemas to see Marvel Superhero films, we came up with the perfect solution: “Heroes of the Night”. The first app that turns every WhatsApp group chat into an individualized superhero comic.
Describe the strategy (20% of vote)
Freedom is a core value of the brand Beck’s. But in order to regain meaningfulness and relevancy in its target group, Beck’s had to redefine freedom – by making it tangible and experienceable. For this purpose, we needed to turn a traditional TVC brand into an online entertainment brand. Beck’s new role: encourage millennials to make choices without fearing the consequences. Or in short: Go ahead, don’t be afraid and show the world what’s possible – because “You make it legendary”. A credo that calls for real-life participation, creating and doing. The strategy was translated into interactive ideas putting the consumer first and the beer second, showing everyone that “great moments without you, simply aren’t great” and of course, that Beck’s without you, is nothing but a beer.
Describe the execution (30% of vote)
We wanted to develop an app that allows your WhatsApp group chats to turn into a comic, so the first thing we had to do was: Create a comic! We invented ten different night out heroes, each resembling a typical personality in your group of friends – and brought them to life in more than 300 hand-drawn illustrations, that were digitalized to suit the WhatsApp format and could be shared as jpegs or pdf on all social media platforms. To get there, all you had to do is download the app from the App Store and connect it with WhatsApp. With the tap of a finger, the app automatically generates your comic – assigning the best possible image to every message and according to name, based on chat context and sentiment. All fully created by artificial intelligence and yet completely customizable by yourself.
List the results (30% of vote)
With a possible 12 billion picture combinations, the app launched simultaneously in 155 markets around the world and quickly became the number third most downloaded App in the German App Store. Activation on owned and paid social media channels resulted in more than 22 million media impressions in the first week alone.