In 2016, Publicis launched a campaign for Heineken in Brazil called The Cliché.
In the ad, we see three couples having dinner while the men receive a message saying that they are invited to a Heineken’s party that will be transmitting the Champions League Final. But first, they need to convince their girlfriends to go to a spa, – so they can be free to go to the party by themselves.
But here is the catch, the girlfriends are not going to any spa.
Instead, they will be heading to the actual Champions League Final, at Milan.
The spot was distributed through social media networks and soon became viral. But when we think of what’s behind this idea, what kind of strategic Publicis may have had?
The 4 -step planning process know as POST is a scalable strategic approach that focuses on understanding the people first, then the brand objectives, the strategy and finally thinking about the channels of distribution.
It’s easy to assume that Heineken was targeting young male and female, twenties to mid-thirties, especially soccer’s lovers. Actually, one of the main brand’s objectives might have been to connect itself with the experience of watching the Champions League.
But in a campaign such as The Cliché, where viral marketing is expected, the actual strategy has to encourage individuals to pass the message forward, creating a path to the exponential growth and viralization of the video. So, when the strategy was defined, the tactics were surely an easy decision: social media.
