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Heineken's Dive Bars, Teamwork's 'The Client' and Kia Soundscapes
Our weekly roundup of Europe's best work
Movement inspires ideas in “Kia Soundscapes.” Created by Innocean Berlin, the sense of discovery one gets on a road trip is used to showcase the carmaker’s advanced driver assistance. The concept sounds less cool than the execution: Anne, below, is blind, and music gives her a real-time sensory experience of the landscape outside. Have you ever heard vastness? Also see “Danny’s Journey.”
Heineken makes a lot of ads, and they usually take place in bars. But running a tavern is a precarious business. So, the brand came up with a way to make even more ads while advocating for the little guys. “Starring Bars” attempts to build a global catalog of ad-location rentals featuring establishments that could use a boost. In addition to providing H’s first picks for future commercials, the catalog will be shared with movie directors, location scouts and other film industry professionals, courting them with messages like “Hey Director, these bars can handle a drama.”
“Starring Bars” builds on a larger platform created by LePub, “Back the Bars,” of which we’ve already seen variations. “Pub Succession” keeps Irish bars in the (very extended) family, while “Bar Dating” gets you venturing beyond your favorite dive.
We like the scope of this work and how it attaches Heineken to the hubs that give them life. This is an ambitious, interesting elaboration for a brand that sometimes feels oversaturated.
Ireland’s Teamwork.com gives us the third installment of its gripping drama “The Client.” In this one, an apprentice travels far to locate a corporate equivalent of the Shaolin monks. It somehow still continues to be funny work. Hats off to Umault, which understood—and helped the client understand—that making a big bombastic campaign like this would win people over much faster, in the end, than a standard slow-build. (The series is nonetheless supported by a shorter, more staccato set of spots that highlight specific project management pain points that Teamwork.com can help address.)
Angela Natividad is the European markets editor at Muse by Clios. She also writes about gaming and fashion, and whatever else she’s interested in, really. She’s based in Paris and North Italy, so if you’re local, say hi. She might eat all your food.
