Heineken Billboards Give Fans a Chance to Push Rivals Buttons This Champions Cup Final

Heineken has launched ‘Love Rivalry’, a new campaign encouraging sports fans, and non-sports fans alike, to enjoy some friendly rivalry this Spring as Dublin gets set to host the Heineken Champions Cup Final in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, May 20th. Heineken has enlisted the help of interagency partners Publicis, Thinkhouse, Red Star and Allied Global Marketing to develop an innovative 360 campaign led by audio OOH billboards to celebrate the spirit of playful rivalry.

To gain insight, and find out how much friendly rivalry is embedded into Irish culture, Thinkhouse teamed up with research partner Bounce Insights, releasing new research revealing Ireland as a fiercely competitive nation, with over 85% of Irish people confessing to ‘loving a good rivalry’. Other findings from the research include; 

• 90% of people in Ireland believe the Irish to be a competitive nation
• Over 80% of people considering themselves to be ‘competitive’
• 70% of Irish people support some type of sports team

To ensure all fans (those at home and further afield) could soak up the famous rivalry of the Heineken Champions Cup ahead of the Ulster V Leinster clash on Saturday, April 1st, Heineken worked with Publicis to develop interactive audio billboards, giving fans the power to push their opponents buttons on game day. 

In the lead up to the big game, fans were invited to send their most annoying voice messages to their rivals here. All messages were collated and blasted through ‘Love Rivalry’ audio billboards on game day in their rival team’s city across Ireland and further afield in Durban, South Africa. 

Check out the billboards in action and fan reactions on game day HERE. Billboards are positioned in Dublin, Belfast, Limerick and Durban, South Africa. VIP tickets to the Heineken Champions Cup Final in May were up for grabs for the best entries.

To amplify the campaign in mainstream culture, Thinkhouse and Heineken enlisted the help of fitness influencer Paul Olima (Leinster) and comedian Shane Todd (Ulster), with celebrity influencer and podcaster Vogue Williams (Leinster) as brand ambassadors to whip up some healthy inter-province rivalry.  

Speaking on the campaign, Ronan McCormack, marketing manager, Heineken Ireland said, “‘Love Rivalry’ is about enjoying some friendly rivalry on match day. With the final in Dublin coming up on the 20th May, we want everyone in Ireland to feel included in the excitement surrounding the Heineken Champions Cup this year. Seeing the billboards come to life for the Ulster V Leinster clash, and the fans' reactions to the voice notes, really captured the essence of the campaign. We’ve more exciting things to come as we look towards the big final in May”

With the Leinster V Ulster clash behind us, Heineken are now looking towards the big final in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, May 20th which will bring with it an incredible atmosphere in the city.