it
The Worst Ever Job Interview
BRAND BUILDING
T
he campaign for 'The Candidate' fits
within Heineken®'s 'Always On' social
media strategy. "It's about creating stories
in the digital media space that allow us to maintain the
conversation with our consumers," explains Dario. "It was
also developed in line with our global 'Open Your World'
strategy, and was a novel way to emphasise our long-
running sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League."
Standard questions. Prepared answers. If job JJ
interviews are all the same, how to find the right
talent among 1,734 applicants?
"With our search for a new Heineken® Event and
Sponsorship Intern we wanted to demonstrate that you
need more than what's written on your CV to work here,"
explains Dario. "What's really important is your attitude,
lust like the brand values of Heineken®, you need to be
open-minded, confident and resourceful."
HEINEKEN advertised the role in the normal manner
using major job portals. "We had 1,734 applicants,
mainly 20-24 year old junior marketers," says Dario.
"Around 20 were invited for face-to-face interviews at our
headquarters in Amsterdam.
"Our objective was to put interviewees outside of
their comfort zone to see how they'd react. An actor
conducted the main interview, asking nonsense questions
or putting them in awkward situations, like holding their
hands while walking to the interview. We also surprised
the interviewees with a staged fire alarm mid-interview,
where the extras did a very convincing job running out of
the building!
"Following this 'odd' interview, I also interviewed the
candidates for an hour and let them know that, as well as
being a serious interview for a real position, it was also
intended to be part of a viral social-media campaign."
You've Got the Job
Following the decision to offer the position to candidate
Guy Luchting, an unusual method was used to inform
him of his success. "As the internship is related to our
UEFA Champions League sponsorship, we invited Guy to
a UCL match. We filmed him running onto the pitch at
the opening of the game holding the giant competition
banner, then used the stadium screens to announce his
success. You can tell this is a genuine moment from the
spontaneous, joyful reaction on his face!"
Guy Luchting, the new Heineken®
Event and Sponsorship Intern,
celebrates his success during the UEFA
Champions League Trophy Tour
Igniting the Conversation
"To help the video to spread virally, we used a range
of digital channels. We targeted influential Internet
newsmakers and commentators, including the website
Mashable, which released exclusive news about
the campaign. We then kick-started social-media
conversations via Heineken®'s social media platforms,
including Twitter, YouTube and our Facebook page with
almost 12 million fans.
HeLneReri
Edition 2 2013 World of HEINEKEN 5
