Step one · The signalThe horn goes
At key moments the Star Point horn cuts through the event, on court and off it.
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Creative strategy / Heineken
Giving the people off court a reason to play.
Heineken’s platform is Fans Have More Friends. A padel match only gives four people something to do, so I built the tournament around everyone else: a card, a horn, a team of strangers and a pick to make.
01 / The brief
Bring “Fans Have More Friends”
onto a padel court.
The brief was a padel event built on Heineken’s existing platform. The catch is in the format: a match gives four people a role, and everyone else watches. Standing side by side watching doesn’t make anyone a friend. The job was to give the rest of the room something to do together.
02 / The idea
The polish of Wimbledon.
The energy of a Heineken social club.
Treat the tournament as a club, not a fixture list. A club has more than one way to belong, so the day offers four.
Play
Get on court. Get competitive.
Watch
Follow the match. Pick a side. Cheer it on.
Connect
Meet new people, eat, drink and make content.
Celebrate
Good games, good company and a night that keeps going.
From
- Watching from the side
- Staying with your own group
- Leaving after the final
- A goodie bag
To
- Picking a side
- A team of strangers
- Staying for the party
- A kit for the next game
03 / The day
Eight steps.
Only two need a racket.
Who each part of the day is for.
- 01
Get in
Check in, follow and tag, and collect a Play Card.
Everyone - 02
Get ready
Warm-up, welcome and the first drink.
Everyone - 03
Get on court
Short best-of-three matches with live scoring.
Players - 04
Play it different
Padel Pong, side challenges and Find Your Team.
Everyone - 05
Capture the moment
Replays, Make Your Pick and fan moments.
Everyone - 06
Keep it going
Music, food, Heineken and new people.
Everyone - 07
The final
The last match, with the whole room watching one moment.
Players - 08
Play it forward
A takeaway kit, shared content and the next match.
Everyone
04 / The mixing loop
A horn, a star
and a team of strangers.
This is the mechanic that does the platform’s job. It moves people out of the group they arrived with, and nobody has to introduce themselves.
Step one · The signal
Step two · The placeFind your Star Point
Guests head to the nearest star on the ground. Whoever is standing there with them is their new team.
“Who else is on this star?”View slide
Step three · The gameTake on another team
Padel Pong is beer pong on a mini padel court, with Heineken cups and padel-yellow balls. Sink a ball, clear a cup, keep playing.
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Every horn makes a new team for the next round.
05 / The people watching
Give the crowd
a stake in the game.
Spectators get their own small actions, so watching becomes taking part.
At check-inThe Play Card
Guests follow and tag Heineken to unlock their card. It carries their team, match time, challenge and picks, so even non-players have a plan for the day.
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Before key matchesMake Your Pick
Guests predict the winner. Correct picks unlock Play It Forward rewards, so the people watching have something riding on the result.
“Who takes this one?”View slide
Through the dayThe Replay
Slow-motion captures of guests’ best shots, serves and celebrations, played back on screen. Players get a moment; the crowd gets something to share.
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06 / The star does the work
A point, a place
and a prize.
The Heineken star isn’t decoration. It’s part of how the game works, so the brand sits inside the moments people remember.
A point
One point in every match is the Star Point. Win it and it’s marked on the live scoreboard.
A place
Stars on the ground are where strangers meet and become teams.
A cup
Padel Pong is played into green Heineken cups carrying the red star.
A prize
The winner’s trophy is a padel racket with the star cut through it.
07 / From court to party
The match ends.
The social doesn’t.
Once the matches wind down, the space turns into a Heineken social club, with a bar, a DJ, food and seating. The final takes over the court with the scoreboard, lights and a DJ build-up, so the whole room watches one moment together.
For the winnerThe Final Point
A custom Heineken padel trophy marks the winner of the tournament.
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For everyoneThe Play It Forward kit
A padel ball, keychain, bottle opener and wristband or cap: things that come out again at the next game.
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08 / What success would look like
How I’d judge
a first edition.
The concept hasn’t run yet, so these are the signals I’d track, not results.
Picks made
Share of spectators who make at least one pick, not just the players.
Mixed teams
Padel Pong teams formed at a Star Point that include people who arrived separately.
Check-in follows
Follows and tags at registration, and Replay clips shared after the event.
Who stays
Guests still there after the final, at the party.
The complete proposal
The match ends.
The connections don’t.
The full 17-slide proposal.