10 Wild and Crazy Marketing Ideas That Worked
Heineken's walk-in fridge
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Objective: Play off a popular ad effort to extend the now-familiar, easily identifiable campaign into other marketing events. Payoff: Millions of YouTube views. Beer-maker Heineken released an online video in 2009 called "Walk-In Fridge" that featured a group of girlfriends jumping up and down and shrieking when they see the hostess' new walk-in closet. In another room, the men have their own moment when they see the host's walk-in refrigerator lined with shelves of ice-cold Heineken. Heineken then grew the viral tail of the idea even longer. In 2010, it built a walk-in fridge that it took to beer festivals, allowing groups to parody the ad and upload their efforts to YouTube. The company also created a longer video showing guys installing a walk-in fridge in an apartment, with the box extending outside the building with no visible means of support. This is a great example of taking one winning idea and finding ways to keep it fresh over time. And costs are minimal when much of the effort is produced by customers who are shooting and uploading their own videos.