Heineken opted to follow this wisdom as part of its 140th birthday celebration in Hungary. An extra bit of spotlight was cast on the special multi-packs through attention-getting shelf animations.

The shelf display with stopping power was placed in numerous Hungarian branches of Tesco supermarkets – and proved so successful that the limited edition sold out in just three weeks. The campaign's goals were to aim squarely at men between 25 and 45 and express itself through originality, creativity and individuality.

Working with these parameters, the STI Group's Hungarian team of creative heads came together to develop the extraordinary shelf display: The multipacks were placed inside transparent acrylic boxes featuring an illuminated, animated surface that guaranteed a high degree of attention.

The animation was built around the EL Sign, a thin, lightweight and flexible multilayer film that works that uses phosphorus to turn energy into light: The lighting animation can be individually programmed, with a battery or power plug providing the necessary energy. By placing the animated display on shelves, shoppers internalise the location of the primary Heineken placement, and know exactly where to go on their next visit.

Creativity that connects

Heineken also kicked off a "Future Bottle Design Contest" on Facebook at the same time as the POS campaign. It invited young people from around the world to design the Heineken bottle of the future. The submitted designs needed to express a vision of how the Earth's people will be connected in 140 years from now. Young designers were invited to design just one half of the bottle, upload their concept to the Facebook page and then to merge their own idea with the creative fruits of another designer. The motifs from the winning pair are scheduled to appear on shelves for Christmas 2012.

This campaign seems primed to be a success, since the Facebook page enjoys strong popularity among the target group. Which design will grace the next "limited edition" from Heineken? Designers from around the world are coming together via Facebook.