About the campaign

A collaborative effort between Carat SSA, Carat Kenya and Diaego, we were able to use our media expertise and access to world class technology to pull off a first in Africa OOH experience – surprising and delighting Kenyan Football fans and proving that Guinness is Made of More.

Other agencies involved: Carat Kenya, Posterscope Kenya, Hey Human and Carberry

Challenge

As part of the broader Guinness Made of More football activity in Kenya - It was arranged that football legend Rio Ferdinand would visit the country to seek out extraordinary fans of the English Premier League.

The excitement had been building for his visit, however, we simply couldn’t wait and decided to deploy a never been seen tech idea in Nairobi to ensure that Rio appeared “in person” at more places and to more fans even before his scheduled arrival. date

Solution

We installed what appeared to be a standard digital billboard inside one of Nairobi’s most loved football bars – Avenida Bar. Fans were none the wiser as Rio Ferdinand got ready in a London studio for a live stream Q&A and challenge session with unsuspecting fans via the inconspicuous digital billboard.

After ensuring connectivity and quality were in sync we pushed live, and Rio beamed straight into the bar, calling out fans who, although very apprehensive at first, really got into the swing of things. 

There was even an impromptu rendition of Glory Glory Man United and a live keepy-uppy challenge which saw patrons getting very competitive. The fans were absolutely thrilled to chat live and challenge an EPL icon right there in their home bar.

The moment the live session completed, we began to stich the Rio footage together to create a gamified, reaction-based billboard that would then tour Nairobi bars. 

In this instance, fans could challenge Rio through a series of pre-recorded responses. Rio became Nairobi’s most loved billboard “chatbot” as he gave away awesome merchandise and a few free bottles of Guinness when the patrons challenged him and won on several tasks.

Results

The Rio live billboard created solid pre-visit hype for the Guinness Rio Ferdinand campaign with significant social engagement and was even mentioned by one of Kenya’s biggest football influencers Carol Radull.

The Rio live campaign was a first for Africa, pushed tech and innovation and cemented our positioning a beer Made of More.

• 3.7 Million Kenyans Reached
• Highest Facebook Ad Recall Compared with other Guinness campaigns
• 12% Engagement Rate

2019 Awards Won

African Cristal Awards | Ispahan | PROMO & ACTIVATION - Use of Technology