“LaundroMatch” targets UEFA Champions League fans in South Korea who watch live matches in the early morning hours despite sports bars being closed.
The UEFA Champions League’s roots, games, and largest fan base may be in Europe, but some of the sport’s hardcore fans are also in Asia. These devotees are so dedicated that they will wake up at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. to catch a UEFA Champions League match live, despite sports bars in South Korea being closed then.
Heineken’s solution, in partnership with LePub Singapore and WashEnjoy, skirts the issue by transforming one of the nation’s few 24-hour businesses — laundromats — into makeshift sports viewing hubs where groups of fans can get together to watch the league’s quarter- and semi-final matches until June. To help with this effort, consumers can scan QR codes at WashEnjoy laundromats to access a complimentary 30-day SPOTV subscription.
Access to the offer is only available during the matches. After scanning the QR code, consumers can access a landing page offering SPOTV, with the site’s design inspired by the shape of a washing machine. The campaign launched on April 10, timed to two consecutive events.
The idea for “LaundroMatch” is in keeping with Heineken’s UEFA Champions League campaign, “Cheers to the Real Hardcore Fans.” The campaign depicts the lengths many of the sport’s fans will go to show their devotion, like naming their pets after their favorite players. It is meant to redefine what it means to be a hardcore fan to make football more inclusive.
“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,” said Giwoun Park, marketing director at Heineken Korea, in a release. “We wanted to celebrate Asia’s hardcore fans who truly live and breathe the sport in a positive, sometimes quirky way.”
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Heineken has not been above quirkiness in its latest marketing. The brand recently teamed with streetwear retailer Bodega to launch “The Boring Phone,” a limited-edition, limited-feature phone with no internet access or apps. Launched as part of Milan Design Week, the phone and a related campaign are designed to encourage consumers to reduce their screen time and increase human connection.
Last year, Heineken’s Brazil group, in partnership with LePub Brazil, designed a gaming PC that doubled as a refrigerator to keep beverages cold. The “TH3 G4M1NG FR1DG3” was part of the brand’s “Not All Nights Out are Out” campaign targeted at gamers.
