Heineken H*Ai

作品信息

作品描述

背景

2023 marked a triumphant year for women's football, with the Chinese women's team clinching their ninth AFC Cup after a 17-year hiatus, sparking both pride and condemnation from punters online. The perception of female football fans hasn't evolved in China. There’s still a stereotype that women don't understand football, leading to them being referred to as 'fake fans', even when they’re anything but.

As a global brand renowned in the world of football, Heineken launched the global platform "Cheers To All Fans. Men Included”, with the goal of transforming soccer into a sport that transcends gender boundaries. Heineken's 2023 UEFA Champions League campaign set out to back female fans in shattering gender barriers in China and to encourage everyone to view them as nothing less than fervent football fans, just like their male counterparts.

目标

Dismantle the entrenched stereotypes in the fan community, and show that Heineken is an inclusive beer that celebrates every football fan in China.

创意

Aware of trending AI among Chinese netizens, and their tendency to trust what AI says, we saw an opportunity. We introduced H*AI, an AI Intelligence that could answer any UEFA-related question: Who clinched the second most championships in UEFA? Who was the top scorer of the 2023 UEFA league? Once everyone was convinced that Heineken had built a successful UEFA-centric AI due to it being put to the ultimate test before football giants, we revealed the truth. H*AI was not powered by artificial intelligence, but by very human, female intelligence - a group of highly knowledgeable super fans who happened to be women.

This campaign was 10 days long. We unveiled H*AI on 2 June. The next day, a video of football icon, Thierry Henry, testing H*AI was published, followed by videos featuring three of China's top football influencers testing H*AI. Next, H*AI was released to all on Douyin livestream. On June 10 during the final UEFA game, we released the big reveal - H*AI was powered by four female football aficionados. Vignettes of their personal journeys and the reactions of the influencers were unveiled in what can be described as a true cultural moment and a breakthrough.

结果

Our dramatic reveal instantly went viral on major Chinese social networks before the final game. It also got:
- 77 million social media impressions,
- Sparking 182,000 discussions about football equality.
- 1.99 billion earned impressions.

Notably, it boosted Heineken's association with football among women by 14% and reached a new high of 93% in football association among females, surpassing male demographics. This campaign not only captured widespread attention but also resonated deeply with female football fans.

分析

H*AI transformed the perception of female fans on social media into a widespread topic on the night of the UEFA Final. In China, male football fans often perceive themselves as more knowledgeable and more genuinely a part of the football culture than female fans, who are commonly stereotyped as 'fake fans' on social media.

Heineken’s 'H-AI' campaign aimed to navigate, expose and upturn this bias by leveraging influential personalities in the Chinese and global football world. We challenged these long-held biases and showed that women can be just as fanatical about football as their male counterparts.