BACK THE BARS

TitleBACK THE BARS
BrandHEINEKEN
Product/ServiceHEINEKEN
Category D01. Social Video
Entrant PUBLICIS ITALY Milan, ITALY
Idea Creation PUBLICIS ITALY Milan, ITALY
Production STINK FILMS Los Angeles, USA
Post Production STINK FILMS Los Angeles, USA
Additional Company PUBLICIS•POKE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company 2 PUBLICIS BRASIL São Paulo, BRAZIL
Additional Company 3 HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Bruno Bertelli Publicis Italy Global Chief Creative Officer Publicis WW
Cristiana Boccassini Publicis Italy Chief Creative Officer Publicis Italy
Luissandro Del Gobbo Publicis Italy Global Executive Creative Director Publicis Italy
Mihnea Gheorghiu Publicis Italy Global Executive Creative Director Publicis Italy
Eoin Sherry Publicis Italy Global Creative Director Publicis Italy
Alex Eftimie Publicis Italy Art Director Publicis Italy
Austin Campbell Publicis Italy Senior Copywriter Publicis Italy
James Moore
 Publicis Italy Global Strategy Director Publicis Italy
Ilko Petkov Publicis Italy Data Strategist Publicis Italy
Mariella Maiorano Publicis Italy Head TV Production Publicis Italy
David Pagnoni Publicis Italy Worldwide Account Director Publicis Italy
Codruta Arbore Publicis Italy Account Supervisor Publicis Italy
Derek Muller Publicis Italy Sr International Account Manager Publicis Italy
Dave Monk Publicis Poke Executive Creative Director Publicis Poke
Colin Byrne Publicis Poke Group Creative Director Publicis Poke
Rob Butcher Publicis Poke Creative Director Publicis Poke
Tom Genower Publicis Poke Creative Director Publicis Poke
Domenico Massareto Publicis Brazil Chief Creative Officer Publicis Brazil
Gustavo Victorino Publicis Brazil Executive Creative Director Publicis Brazil
Arturo Marenda Publicis Brazil Creative Director Publicis Brazil
Andre Leotta Publicis Brazil Associate Creative Director Publicis Brazil
Pedro Maneschy Publicis Brazil Copywriter Publicis Brazil
Gustavo Vieira Publicis Brazil Art Director Publicis Brazil
Joanna Alencar Publicis Brazil Business Director Publicis Brazil
Michele Pavao Publicis Brazil Producer Publicis Brazil
Tassiana Ferrari Publicis Brazil Account Supervisor Publicis Brazil
Renata Sayao Publicis Brazil Head of TV Production Publicis Brazil
Juliana Elia Publicis Brazil Head of Planning Publicis Brazil
Daniela Altenfelder Publiciz Brazil Panning Manager Publiciz Brazil
Ingrid Raszl STINK Executive Director STINK
Renata Dumont STINK Executive Producer STINK
Carolina Junqueira STINK Executive Producer STINK
Tico Cruz STINK Executive Producer STINK
Camila Martinez STINK Executive Producer STINK
Ana Gazal STINK Executive Producer STINK
Marcela Amstalden STINK Executive Producer STINK

Background

All around the world, bars were forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19. Worse, COVID-19 threatened to close bars permanently due to bar owners being unable to cover property and maintenance costs. How could we help bars stay on their feet until they could open to public and also make sure Heineken didn’t lose their 40% revenue in the B2B market?

Describe the strategy

“Back The Bars” is a platform that allows people to support their local bars by paying for a beer in advance and receive it when bars open. Bar owners would then receive the monetary value of the advanced beer to help maintain their businesses. Every beer sale made was also matched by Heineken, effectively doubling the revenue bar owners earned.

Describe the execution

To launch the platform, we released the “Back The Bars” online film featuring sad and lonely bars from around the world waiting for their customers to return. Every scene was repurposed or edited stock footage to create typographic lyrics to Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me. Our slogan: “Bars need life, as much as life needs bars.”

List the results

In two months, our initiative helped thousands of outlets worldwide, with over 218,000 vouchers being sold and over 8.2 million euros going directly to outlets. The initiative continues to run in over 20 global today.