A “Star Retailer” based in Derbyshire, was selected to host a virtual media launch and sampling stunt for a new product from one of the world’s largest brewers.
Sukh Gill, who owns two Nisa Local stores, ran a virtual advertising campaign in his Hatton store for Heineken Silver, a new 4 per cent lager that has just been introduced to the UK market.
The campaign was designed to create awareness, build hype, and drive trial of the products ahead of its arrival into stores.
Linking in-store point of sale to Heineken’s satirical metaverse launch of Silver, the futuristic campaign connects the virtual reality to the real world to reflect how Heineken sees its target consumers (Generations Y and Z), interacting increasingly in the present day.
The campaign was launched exclusively to Sukh’s store with the potential to replicate with other key retailers.
Branded shelves and a free-standing display unit (FSDU) showcased the virtual beer as seen in Decentraland which consumers were able to download and experience in the metaverse as well as pick up a sample of the real-life product from shelf.
“Silver’s aim is to revitalise the category by bringing new and diverse audiences and occasions into beer,” said Ali Lord, Regional Sales Executive at Heineken UK.
“We will be bringing these audiences into stores, creating hype and producing live coverage of this PR stunt as part of a wider piece within our media plan.”
Sukh Gill was chosen to host the launch due to his status as a category leader for Heineken and a “star retailer” in their industry-recognised beer and cider category advice scheme.
“The Hatton Nisa store is a ‘Gold Standard’ store with Heineken and so a perfect location for us to launch Silver into the convenience sector,” said Ali.
Sukh said: “It’s fantastic to have the first launch into the convenience channel coming through Nisa and I’m delighted that Heineken approached me for this opportunity.
“As an independent retailer, collaborating with suppliers on initiatives such as this is a great way of raising our profile and demonstrating to shoppers that we are relevant and in fact leading in some areas of the market.”
