Jono And Ben’s ‘Road to the Final’ Promotion Wins Silver

Jono And Ben’s ‘Road to the Final’ Promotion Wins Silver for Mediaworks And Heineken at the BEFest Awards

MediaWorks NZ and Heineken have won Silver at The BEFest Awards, held in Sydney as part of the prestigious Festival of Content Marketing and Branded Entertainment. MediaWorks was the only New Zealand company to take home an award, and were recognised in the Best Sponsorship or Product Integration for their 2014 Heineken ‘Road to the Final’ campaign, which featured Radio and TV stars Jono and Ben.

The Heineken New Zealand brief was to develop a campaign around Heineken’s global sponsorship of the UEFA Champion’s League (UCL), the world’s most prestigious club football competition, but not an event that resonates strongly in New Zealand.

The MediaWorks strategy was based on a content approach that brought together New Zealanders’ appetite for travel and adventure, resourcefulness and curiosity, Heineken’s ‘Men of the World’ positioning, and the irreverent comedy of Jono and Ben, hosts of The Rock Drive show and TV3’s Jono and Ben at Ten. A fully integrated campaign ran across TV, radio, online, social, mobile and activation, and was both one of the biggest pranks ever produced for Jono and Ben – and the mechanism to find a winning duo to travel with Jono and Ben to the Champions League Final in Lisbon.

Heineken NZ Marketing Manager, Jen Macindoe describes the activation as an example of best practice local content creation.

“The Heineken Global team were extremely impressed by Heineken New Zealand’s bespoke UEFA Champions League local top-spin designed to capture the attention of rugby mad Kiwi men, featuring local celebrities Jono and Ben,” she says. “It was the perfect balance of Heineken’s premium brand attributes world-class stature and personality tied in with local relevance.”

From the call for entry, eight teams of two (chosen from 5143 entries) were put through their paces by Heineken and Jono and Ben. Contestant challenges included visiting a fake Heineken bar, hosting a TV chat-show and singing with a star from The X Factor NZ. Challenges were broadcast live on The Rock and filmed for TVe with accompanying social and online elements, and impressive reach that led to measurable increases in brand awareness and sales volumes.

The winning pair travelled with Jono and Ben and Heineken to Lisbon for the UCL final. They spent a week in Portugal and Jono and Ben broadcast a week of live radio shows, giving New Zealand listeners a taste of the UCL experience, and filming a series of Heineken ‘Overseas Experiment’ segments with the winners.

MediaWorks Integration Sales Manager, Chris Lloyd is delighted with the recognition of the campaign.

“The success of ‘Road to the Final’ was a collaborative approach between all parties,” he says. “From the Heineken teams in NZ and globally, SparkPHD, the MediaWorks Integration team, and the Jono and Ben TV and Radio production teams that ensured each brand remained true to itself, while still delivering the type of content our audiences expect. This in turn engaged the passionate Jono and Ben fans. The Heineken team were great fun to work with and we all saw eye to eye on the importance of delivering Heineken’s message in the unique editorial manner of each show. As a result we ensured the greatest resonance for the campaign.”

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