Experiential Marketing: Budget under $1 Million
April 6, 2009
Heineken’s sister beer, Amstel Light, got some major promotional love last year with a one-day experiential extravaganza called the Spirit of Amsterdam. The event was designed by Mirrorball to bring a bit of carefree fun from Amsterdam to Manhattan. The day started when local radio stations announced that Amstel Light would be giving away 150 bicycles, which are common in Amsterdam. Long lines formed almost instantly, and, before long, scores of red bikes with Amstel signage were being pedaled all over the Upper West Side.
Later in the day, as a three-block party was under way along Amsterdam Avenue, Amstel and Mirrorball unleashed the Beer Bike, a 17-seat bar on wheels that was followed by a parade of riders on their free bikes. Along the route, brand ambassadors in Dutch apparel distributed red and white tulips.
But that wasn’t all. At 7 p.m., Mirrorball announced that Amstel Light would be hosting a free concert featuring singer/songwriter Pete Yorn two hours later along the Hudson River at the 79th Street Boat Basin. When they arrived, concertgoers were treated to a newly constructed, Amsterdam pub-style concert venue with a capacity of 2,000. Called Lounge 1870, it featured LCD TV screens and a cold tap system.
The party, with two sets by Yorn, was a major success that went past midnight and, eventually had to be shut down by the city. The event also hit all of its marketing objectives. In all, more than 25,000 Amstel Light beers were sampled, 42 million media impressions were garnered, and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers came into contact with some form of the promotion. The brand’s tagline, “One Dam Good Bier,” for that day, was part of the New York vernacular.
The event was replicated in six other cities after Manhattan, and there are plans for another, expanded Spirit of Amsterdam experience this year.
Looking to capitalize on the unique branding proposition of its Dos Equis beer, Heineken USA and experiential marketing shop Mirrorball created a branded entertainment property called The Most Interesting Show in the World.
A follow-up to the brand’s Most Interesting Man in the World ad campaign, each tour stop of The Most Interesting Show transformed the location into a virtual playground for the Dos Equis drinker, a person who enjoys the more exciting, exotic and interesting things in life.
And that person was not disappointed. Hosted by Jim Rose, creator of “The Jim Rose Circus” sideshow, the Dos Equis/Mirrorball experience featured bizarre dancers, chainsaw-wielding comedians, burlesque singers and contortionists.
The event also served more than 40,000 bottles of Dos Equis to the 15,000-plus people who attended the shows. And with a lineup of performers like that, The Most Interesting Show’s media impressions were, understandably, not hard to come by. All told, the tour generated a whopping 99 million impressions on TV, radio, online and in print. And the individual markets that hosted a tour stop saw a sales bump during the promotional period before, during and after the event.
The success of the 2008 Most Interesting Show in the World already has prompted Dos Equis and Mirrorball to start working on the lineup for a 2009 version.
Laughing Cow Wedges is a delicious, low-calorie cheese spread. But the Bel Brands product had one little problem: While it enjoyed a loyal following, it was a small one; the brand’s national household penetration was just 3 percent.
To remedy that situation, Laughing Cow Wedges and Alcone Marketing created a variety of Laughing Cow Lafés, an upscale café that served up plenty of humor and good-tasting, healthy products. The Lafés popped up in gyms in 10 cities, at outdoor locations in Manhattan and even via snack baskets to more than 300 companies.
As it turned out, the campaign’s success was no laughing matter. During the run of the Lafés, 410,000 samples of Laughing Cow Wedges were distributed. Nearly 90 percent of those who sampled the product said they would buy it. And 87 percent said they would replace a current snack with Laughing Cow Wedges.