Heineken leveraged its UEFA Champions League (UCL) sponsorship in AsiaPacific (APAC) by turning 24-hour laundromats into all-night sports bars so that Korea’s most passionate fans have a place to watch the final stages of the tournament.
Objective
The aim of the campaign was to bring Heineken’s umbrella ‘Cheers To The Real Hardcore Fans’ platform to Asia with the objective of connecting with a wider range of fans worldwide and making Heineken the global beer of choice during the UCL.
Created in harness with agency LePub APAC, the marketing team’s idea was inspired by the research showing that Asia is home to some of the world’s most committed soccer supporters – so devoted to the game and their teams that they regularly wake up at 3am or 4am to watch UCL games live. The time difference between Europe and Korea mean that it is challenging for fans to watch live matches with friends and other supporters as most bars are closed when games are on. Home is often not the best place to passionately cheer on teams in groups in the early hours either.
So the brand tasked the agency to find a solution to this time zone, opening hours challenge.
Activation
LePub APAC’s solution was to partner with WashEnjoy – one of South Korea’s largest laundromat franchises – to turning 24-hour laundromats into 24-hour sports bars at locations across the country.
Thus, even when bars are closed, there would now be a place for the passionate, committed fans to get together and enjoy the UEFA Champions League.
The resulting campaign, titled ‘LaundroMatch’, launched at 3am (KST) on 10/11 April with two consecutive events as fans went to WashEnjoy in Seoul to watch teams compete in the quarter finals.
An additional strand of the activation was a contest offering four all-expense paid trips to the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final on 1 June.
Between the campaign launch until the June final, South Korean supporters can scan QR codes at WashEnjoy laundromats nationwide to access complimentary 30-day SPOTV subscriptions – so they can enjoy the UEFA Champions League quarter and semi-finals at a nearby Heineken LaundroMatch.
The promotional campaign spanned TV, online video, digital, social, PR and in-store.
The spearhead spot, ‘LaundroMatch’, dropped on 14 April.
“Heineken believes that being a ‘real hardcore’ football fan isn’t about how you look, it’s about how you behave – anyone who wakes up at ridiculous hours to watch their team, names their pets after their icons, or wears their lucky pair of socks during matches qualifies as hardcore. We wanted to celebrate Asia’s fans who truly live and breathe the sport in a positive, sometimes quirky way. And what could be quirkier than staying up all night to watch the UEFA Champions League at a laundromat?”
Heineken Korea Marketing Director Giwoun Park
“You may think the world’s most passionate football fans are based in Europe or Brazil, but they can actually be found in all corners of the world – cities like Seoul, where fans are crazy enough to stay up all night to cheer on their team. We had the crazy idea of using laundromats to recognize the efforts of these fans and celebrate them with Heineken. When bars are closed, now there is a place for Korea’s real hardcore fans: 24/7 laundromats, transformed by Heineken into go-to venues for enjoying match day with friends.”
LePub APAC Executive Creative Director Cyril Louis
The campaign was briefed in by a Heineken Global and Heineken Korea marketing team which included Heineken Global Marketing Director Daniela Lebba, Heineken APAC Brand and Business Development Director Agnieszka Gorecki, Heineken Global Communication Manager Guilherme Retz, Heineken Global Digital Development Manager Pearly Lim, Heineken Head of Strategy Dana Katz, Heineken APAC Communication Manager Nalini Bhagwandin, Heineken Korea Marketing Director Giwoun Park, Heineken Korea Senior Brand Manager Lynda Kim, Heineken Korea Brand Managers Kido Lee, Gajin Kim and Chloe Choi, plus Heineken Brand Executive Eunhye Guan.
The group working on the campaign at agency LePub APAC included Regional Executive Creative Director Cyril Louis, Creative Director Sergey Mast, Associate Creative Directors Yuste De Lucas and Rudy Zulkifly, Design Director Oscar Gutierrez, Account Director Vanessa Liu, General Manager Hanh Kanssen and Senior Project Manager Farhan Wahab.
There was additional input from a group at LePub Italy included Global CEO LePub and CCO Publicis Worldwide Bruno Bertelli, Global Chief Creative Officer Cristiana Boccassini, Chief Creative Officer Mihnea Gheorghiu, Executive Creative Directors Andrey Tyukavkin and Eoin Sherry, Creative Directors Marie Poumeyrol, Nick Bakshi and Stefano Zanoni, plus Associate Creative Director Roberto Ardigò, Groupe Strategy Director James Moore, Client Service Director Shirine Aoun, Group Account Director Giulia Melegati, Account Supervisor Marta Dell’Adami, Account Executive Francesca Gatti, Global Head of Creative Technology Mauro Mazzei, Global Head of PR & Communications Isabella Cecconi and Global PR Manager Eleonora Botta.
This activation runs under the brand’s UCL umbrella, global ‘Cheers To The Real Hardcore Fans’ platform which initially launched in February 2024 and which redefines what it means to be a ‘real hardcore fan’ in a wider brand effort to make football more inclusive.
Of course, we’ve seen laundries used in sports sponsorship activation before and to great effect too: see NZRU sponsor Steinlager’s All ‘Black Laundry’ from 2019.