Heineken celebrates Thai football culture with immersive fan campaign

Bangkok, Thailand – As the UEFA Champions League returned to screens this year, Heineken launched “Cheers to The Real Hardcore Fans,” a campaign developed in partnership with Dentsu Thailand.

The campaign aimed at reconnecting with local football fans and reinforcing its brand presence in a competitive beer market. Rather than centring its message on the football matches themselves, the campaign focused on the fans—highlighting the dedication and passion of Thai football supporters, particularly those staying up into the early hours to follow the tournament.

The campaign was powered by a series of integrated activations spanning digital, outdoor, and experiential channels, including real-time digital billboards deployed across Bangkok and other cities. A series of fan-centred events, also under the banner “Heineken Experience Road to the Final,” was also launched. 

Hosted in six major Thai cities, these events included live match analysis, musical performances, and interactive fan zones, offering supporters a communal space to experience the matches together. Additionally, a collaboration with Pizza Hut delivered ‘Champions Sets, ’ a bundled food delivery paired with collectible items. 

Thanlaphol Nipatarangkul, senior media & digital manager at Thai Asia Pacific Trading Co., Ltd., said, “The rhythm of Thai football fandom is one that only true fans know, and that deserves to be celebrated. With ‘Cheers to The Real Hardcore Fans’, we wanted to bottle that spirit and celebrate it in ways that fans could feel everywhere. We brought the toast; dentsu Thailand mapped the night.”

Chanokpol Engpongpun, business director at Dentsu Media Thailand, added, “We made the city our canvas, meeting fans in the moments where they felt most alive and stitching them together so that the celebration could travel from street to screen to sofa. And that is how Heineken showed up, rising from logo to host, and becoming the toast of the night.”

According to Dentsu, the integrated nature of the campaign helped keep Heineken highly visible and culturally relevant throughout the UEFA Champions League season. The initiative aimed to position Heineken not just as a sponsor, but as an active participant in the football-watching experience of Thai fans.

The campaign also reflected an ongoing trend of brands leveraging live sports not just for visibility, but to create more participatory, fan-led experiences that go beyond traditional advertising touchpoints.