Are legends born, or made? To find out Heineken®, as part of its latest global campaign ‘Voyage’, is undertaking it’s most daring experiment yet. It is testing what men are truly made of when taken out of their daily lives and dropped into the great unknown. Imagine the situation. You are a highly social character, out-going and confident. You get chosen to go on a legendary adventure – something you have never done before – a new experience that will test your resourcefulness. But then you find yourself in the freezing wilderness of Alaska – alone on a glacier, with nothing but a giant life-ring, a tuxedo and a plane ticket to get you home – and the airport is hundreds of miles away.
This is ‘Voyage’, a new campaign from premium beer brand Heineken® that takes different men from across the world and drops them in remote global locations with nothing but the most basic of supplies and directions. The result is ‘Dropped’ – a series of episodic adventures following our intrepid explorers on their legendary travel experience.
‘Voyage’ is the fifth instalment of the Heineken ‘Legends’ platform, The integrated campaign, which will live on a variety of platforms across broadcast, digital and mobile, will allow consumers to have a truly immersive experience via the Heineken® Dropped YouTube channel. Here, viewers will be able to follow each ‘Dropped’ voyage, access documentary-style content and also contribute their own video entries to the ‘casting couch’ – with the ultimate chance of partaking in their own legendary travel adventure.
Every ‘Dropped’ travel adventure will be tailored towards the character of its main protagonist – forcing them to discover their own limits and conquer their fears. Across four continents they’ll face a multitude of challenges – tough terrain, curious locals and unusual modes of transport. As the Dropped episodes unfold, so the social experiment will come to life, with viewers of each voyage able to follow how each traveller fares through a series of diary entries and journey updates.
Their final destination? Home. Will they make it? The answer lies within each adventurer – the outcome of each Dropped encounter is completely unscripted, with the participants desire to overcome the challenges the only measurement for success. For all we know legends aren’t made, they’re Dropped.
South African adventure seekers can also get involved with Heineken Dropped by engaging with the local campaign. Dropped South Africa offers consumers the chance to participate in an online challenge to prove that they have what it takes to be a legendary traveller. The challenge will see them collect enough ‘stamps’ in their virtual passports to win the ultimate travel experience. Four lucky consumers will be given the opportunity to be ‘Dropped’ in the heart of four foreign countries, where they will need to use the currency of wit and resourcefulness in order to be the first to reach their final destination to win the grand prize.
According to Tjeerd Velduis, marketing manager for Heineken SA, the local campaign has been designed to offer South African Heineken drinkers the opportunity to immerse themselves in Heineken’s world of legendary travel. “We are really excited about this campaign as we believe it offers the kind of experiential rewards for consumers that have never before been seen from a South African marketing campaign,” he says. “Heineken Dropped SA invites local consumers to become a part of the Global Dropped activity by tweeting, liking and playing the Heineken Voyage game. The more they participate, the more they stand the chance to win their own legendary travel adventure.”
The Voyage TVC, the inspiration for the Dropped travel experiment, will officially air on TV on August 1st, with episodes from the first Dropped adventure having launched via Heineken.com and YouTube on June 3rd. Each Dropped experience will encompass three episodes, complemented with behind the scenes content.
Veldhuis adds: “With Voyage, the fifth instalment of our Legends campaign, we want to go further than inspiring men to be resourceful and open to the world. We are giving a few of them the opportunity to go beyond the borders of their comfort zone. Heineken Dropped is a social experiment that will challenge the participant to display their true character and if they do, have a legendary travel experience.’
Schedule of Voyages
The first Dropped Voyage launched on Monday 3 June, with subsequent Dropped Voyages commencing every three weeks.
So, how do you get there?
You have to do the following:
• Visit heineken.com
• Sign up for Heineken Dropped and get your passport”.
• Watch the original Legendary Travellers episodes to earn stamps in your passport.
• Share the videos and answer questions for more stamps in your passport.
• The more stamps you get, the more chances your entry goes into the final draw of Heineken Dropped SA
Once the four finalists have been selected, they’ll be Dropped in separate countries around the world. But unlike our original Legendary Travellers, they’ll be competing against each other to not only take home the title of the Ultimate Legendary Traveller, they’ll win travel to the value of R40 000.
But Heineken Dropped SA comes with a twist. The competition will be live on Twitter where the public can follow, participate and engage with the finalists. By supporting a finalist that ends up winning the Ultimate title, they’ll be put into a draw where they too can win travel to the value of R40 000.
Heineken Dropped SA will be live from Sunday 22 September to Thursday 26 September.