Heineken made billboards power the bars they advertised to

Beer Power began from a trade-channel problem: bars mattered to Heineken, but energy costs made them harder to operate. D&AD says Heineken launched a program to redirect energy from its factories to partner bars.

The solar billboard solved the trust problem. The One Club says many Brazilian bar owners saw solar energy as complicated, so Heineken turned a familiar sunny media format into proof, installing solar-panel OOH next to bars.

The billboard's job was both recruitment and demonstration. Instead of asking owners to imagine lower bills and cold beer, the ad physically powered nearby refrigerators and pointed them to the program.

Make the ad prove the utility

It made an abstract energy program visible in the bar's own operating context.

The billboard was already a Heineken medium, so converting it into infrastructure felt natural.

Giving a sample of energy reduced adoption friction better than another sustainability claim.

For a utility-like offer, demonstration beats persuasion. Let the media channel perform the benefit in front of the buyer.

WARC reported more than 40 million impressions, 1.8 million views, 14,200 leads and 3,550 converted bars for Beer Power. D&AD listed Beer Power as a 2024 Commerce shortlist, and The One Show gave Solar Billboard a 2024 Merit.