Distributed in over 190 countries, Heineken is a premium, international and very popular beer.

However, Gen Z doesn't share this feeling.

They drink less alcohol than other generations.

This poses a challenge for Heineken, exacerbated by the fact that even among those who still drink, about 50% of them do not choose beer as their favorite beverage. According to Knit, they prefer liquors, spritz, and flavored malt beverages.

More than ever, Heineken as an iconic brand needed to forge a genuine connection with them to be relevant in this new alcohol consumption landscape.

Opportunity: if games are like bars for gen z, overheating is a huge barrier of socialization.

Tapping into this serious overheating issue, Heineken created its own CPU.

THE GAMING FRIDGE, an ultimate customized gaming PC that is also a Heineken fridge.

A high-performance hardware, cool design, cool beers, no overheating and a lot of socializing.

It was about getting into the gaming community in a genuine way that would build desire around the brand.

Before the launch, we leaked the Fridge prototype. Taking over the gaming communities, we dominate forum communities and livestreams.

Gamers got crazy.

And the gamers themselves did the job of scaling it, spreading the news. To make it bigger, the fridge was debuted on Twitch's world's largest streamer: Gaulês.

We not only made ourselves relevant in the gaming universe, but we also truly enhanced it, valuing gaming as a moment to socialize with a cold Heineken.

Controlled leaks are a common PR strategy in the Gaming world. As gamers are a very engaging community, gaming companies often use it to build hype and anticipation for upcoming games or content updates.

Insight: To launch the gaming fridge we adopted the same strategy.

Images of the gadget were leaked on Reddit, the most relevant social media to the target, and then the community did all the work on creating buzz.

The target audience were Gen Z gamers and gaming enthusiasts, as well as tech and lifestyle influencers and media outlets that could amplify the message. Assets were created to showcase the uniqueness of The Gaming Fridge, highlighting Heineken as the iconic brand that made this innovation possible.

The strategy created a sense of exclusivity among gamers to be the first to know more about the project, fostering a stronger connection with the brand.

In developing The Gaming Fridge, our aim was to create something truly unique — a custom setup unlike anything gamers had seen before, inspired by the culture of computer modification and destined to become every gamer's dream.

The response was immediate and global, with gamers worldwide expressing their desire for the fridges. So, we launched 50 limited editions across 9 countries: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States.

The Gaming Fridge even became a trophy for the League of Legends Finals MVP in Brazil, the biggest LOL championship in the world, solidifying its status as the most desired gaming gadget on the internet. It's no wonder people flooded Heineken's social media channels with requests for the product to be made available for purchase so that more people could get their hands on it.

Heineken found a way to be truly relevant.

The Gaming Fridge impacted over 340 million gamers worldwide. With such an innovative launch, we accomplished over 25 million dollars in earned media.

Not only did we get closer to genZ, we achieved the highest Brand Power in Heineken history with this audience, with an average growth rate of 10%. This was only possible because, according to Kantar, we also achieved the highest level of differentiation in the brand's history.

Because of all of that, It's official, we've become the beer brand most associated with gaming, according to PBG 24.

Yeah, making Heineken part of the gaming world has become one of the coolest recent innovations for gamers. Literally.