To mark is sponsorship of rugby’s Investec Champions Cup, Heineken 0.0 has teamed up with Munster’s Simon Zebo and Barbara Bennett, a rising star in Irish street fashion, for an exclusive drop of limited-edition trainers.
The Simon Zebo x Barbara Bennett trainers feature Simon Zebo’s famous on pitch, celebratory ‘Z’ hand symbol and his Z15 jersey number, complete with splashes of Heineken’s iconic colourways. The “Drop Kicks” are available in trade locations across Ireland and on Heineken’s social media channels for a limited time only. The collaboration and campaign was created by THINKHOUSE and is being delivered through creative, social, PR and event activations throughout the championship.
The first phase of the campaign kicked off in Dublin in pubs like Searsons, Slatterys and the Merry Cobbler with surprise appearances by Zebo himself. The second stage is in Cork.
“The atmosphere in pubs on match day is unbeatable. We wanted to elevate that for the Investec Champions Cup this year while supporting our important trade partners. The Simon Zebo and Barbara Bennett collaboration was something new and fresh to celebrate the tournament and bring something different to the pubs on match day. Heineken 0.0® is a match day favourite, personalised trainers are cultural currency and Zebo is so stylish – it pretty much was an idea that had to happen!,” says Mark Noble, marketing manager, Heineken Ireland.
According to THINKHOUSE’s head of creative, Dave Byrne: “We wanted to channel Simon’s brilliant, natural creative flair and were excited to invite Barbara to bring his vision to life. This crossover approach (sport X culture X fashion) is what I believe marketing should be. Remix things, try something new and reward fans with something completely unique. In less than a week, the Heineken 0.0 Drop Kicks generated over 5 million earned media and social impressions, demonstrating the power of culture-led marketing.”
“I’d been chatting with Heineken® 0.0 for months about a trainer collab, so I was delighted when the right time came. Teaming up with Barbara made perfect sense, she understood exactly what I wanted from the get go and really brought my vision to life. It’s been a hectic few weeks training with the lads during the day only to come home and get stuck into designing with Barbara, but I’ve loved every minute,” adds Munster star Zebo.
