NEW YORK ? A Heineken executive at the Mobile Marketing Association?s Mobile Location Leadership Forum discussed a recent mobile-first campaign centering on the latest James Bond film that resulted in more than 14 million ad impressions gained from an Ibotta partnership and nearly one million beacon-enabled impressions.

During the session, ?Leveraging iBeacons and Image Recognition Technology to Engage with Shoppers: Heineken Bond Spectre 2015," the executive detailed the beverage marketer?s step-by-step approach to driving brand awareness and sales ahead of the premiere of Spectre, the latest installment in the James Bond film series. Heineken leveraged multiple collaborations with mobile leaders, such as Ibotta and Fandango, and also roped in beacons to ensure that its products were top-of-mind for grocery shoppers.

?We had the opportunity at Heineken USA to take a global platform and commercialize it in the U.S.,? said Haley Rubin, digital shopper media at Heineken USA. 

Keeping mobile shaken, not stirred
Heineken opted to apply its notion of the digital shopper ? internal terminology the company uses to describe the thought process leading to the path to purchase ? to a worldwide major occasion, the premiere of the widely-anticipated James Bond film Spectre.

The Bond franchise?s ability to appeal to consumers in the 22 to 44-year-old age bracket made it an optimal venture with which to partner.

?Everybody rallies to drive that excitement around the property and drive that retail,? Ms. Rubin said.

The campaign was designed to hit four key aspects. Heineken sought to invite consumers to open Bond?s world with every bottle, elevate their movie nights, live an aspirational, Bond-like lifestyle and use digital and mobile channels to purchase its products.

Heineken?s James Bond-centered marketing initiatives first launched in September 2015 (see story).

First, the beverage marketer rolled out a national television spot featuring Bond himself, Daniel Craig. The action-heavy commercial performed extremely well with individuals, resulting in three billion impressions.

Heineken also entered into a collaboration with mobile shopping app Ibotta, ensuring that its mobile ads were front-and-center for consumers looking for rebates on their grocery shopping.

?We were proud to be the first beer manufacturer to advertise [on Ibotta] a couple years ago,? Ms. Rubin said. ?We partnered with Ibotta and took all of the assets we had available to us and put them on the app.

?That was the pre-shop [experience]. We used that as a traffic driver to stores.?

The partnership culminated in 14 million user impressions. Heineken saw 34,000 brand engagements, which required individuals to interact with branded content in some format. This meant watching a video or responding to a call-to-action placed within the ad.

The company also sold 14,000 product units through this activation. Rebate and cash-back redemption rates exceeded platform benchmarks by 25 percent.

Bonding with beacons
Additionally, Heineken teamed up with beacon provider inMarket?s technology, which drew in-store supermarket shoppers to an interactive display.

The alcohol marketer received nearly one million shopper impressions as a result of the beacon implementation, and 222,000 location-based engagements involving customers interacting with products at the shelf.

InMarket conducted a survey on behalf of Heineken post-beacon interaction, and discovered that the campaign drove incremental revenue of $320,000 as a result of the partnership.

Heineken also rolled out limited-edition bottles with James Bond?s figure emblazoned across the label. The brand enabled beer drinkers to scan the bottles with Web-based augmented reality platform LogoGrab and enter a mobile sweepstakes to win free tickets to see Spectre in theaters.

Consumers had a one in seven chance to receive the complimentary tickets, which were distributed via mobile ticketing app Fandango. The company saw just under 200,000 entries come in, with more than 4,000 Fandango prizes awarded.

This initiative resonated strongly with mobile-savvy individuals, especially since nearly half of people who go to the movies these days leverage their smartphone as a mobile ticket carrier.

Ultimately, Heineken?s four-pronged James Bond-themed campaign was able to successfully raise brand awareness for its products, as well as drum up even more excitement for the action film, particularly among its target demographic.

?This was a really great success story for us,? Ms. Rubin said.