You might think selling beer is straightforward. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy a fizzy, refreshing cold one—particularly in a muggy Asian climate?
But booze brands have a greater role to play in society, beyond sating thirst. They bring people together, something realised by Heineken through its work with LePub.
On day two of ADFEST in Thailand last week, SJ Heng, senior director, commerce Heineken Asia-Pacific, and Stephan Schwarz, ECD, LePub Singapore, discussed two pieces of work from Korea that effectively “fostered human connection” in a world of “social isolation and fragmented communities”.
“At Heineken, we really try to make work that undoubtedly comes from each country and culture. Work that is rooted in social areas and social truths,” said Schwarz.
Heineken’s Trust Bar campaign is undeniably Korean. The team opened bars throughout Seoul for fans to watch late-night UEFA Champions League matches together.
The most Korean element to the campaign: each bar was unmanned. Fans could enter, pour their own beers and pay via KakaoPay—no staff, no supervision.
“If we did this in Europe, it would be a terrible idea,” Schwarz said. But in Korea, trust is a deeply ingrained social behaviour.
The second piece of work, also out of Korea, took a different angle on the same challenge: where do people connect in modern cities?
“As the client, we can always buy digital reach but owning a physical space in the neighbourhood… that’s different,” said Heng.
In Seoul, rooftops are painted green to reduce heat and are deeply embedded in Korean culture, romanticised in K-dramas as places of connection.
“We were running out of traditional OOH assets,” Schwarz said. “But the city is full of surfaces”.
The brand transformed these rooftops into social hubs—marked by Heineken’s red star, and activated with music, food and shared experiences.
“It needed to feel undoubtedly local,” Schwarz said. “Like it could only come from this country.”
Across both pieces of work, a consistent philosophy emerged – one that sits firmly within ADFEST’s Human+ theme.
“This isn’t about campaigns anymore,” Heng said. “It’s about building experiences and platforms. Marketing today is about strategic consistency, but executional flexibility,”
