Streaming platforms have accustomed consumers to discovering entertainment from the couch. Their catalogues, categories and recommendations make it easier to search for content adapted to the tastes and preferences of each user, but they also make staying at home an increasingly comfortable option. Heineken wanted to take advantage of that familiarity to propose the opposite behavior and use the television to discover places to go out with friends.

The beer brand has presented “Pubscription”, a kind of streaming service that, instead of movies and series, offers a catalog of bars and pubs. The initiative has been conceived by the creative agency LePub and developed in collaboration with Brand Innovation Lab, the creative division of Amazon Ads.

The project transfers some of the most recognizable mechanisms of entertainment platforms to the hospitality territory, such as browsing by genre, discovering new options or subscriptions. But it introduces a fundamental difference, and that is that its objective is not to increase the time that users spend in front of the screen, but rather to offer them reasons to turn it off and leave the house. The proposal is part of Heineken’s strategy to vindicate face-to-face social relations and the role of bars as meeting spaces.

A catalog of bars organized as a streaming platform

The operation of “Pubscription” reproduces the navigation logic of audiovisual services. Through an app available on Fire TV, users 18 and older can explore participating establishments and discover options based on the type of experience they are looking for.

Instead of choosing between comedies, documentaries or action movies, the platform allows you to browse different genres of bars, from sports pubs with lively atmospheres to quieter neighborhood establishments, designed for conversation and spending time with friends.
Thus, the service seeks to reduce the effort that can be involved in organizing an outing, especially when participants have different preferences or do not know enough about the offer of establishments in their area.

Once the venue is selected, users can invite their friends and organize the meeting. The platform also incorporates a subscription mechanism, although, unlike usual entertainment services, it does not require payment of a monthly fee. Users can register for free and receive four vouchers for each monthly period, redeemable for a Heineken or a Heineken 0.0 at participating Star Pubs establishments. The promotion allows you to use one voucher per week, which is presented from your mobile phone when you go to the store.

The initiative is also based on research carried out among 15,000 adults from different countries, the results of which indicate that the ease of access to digital entertainment is establishing new expectations about the way of discovering experiences.

According to data shared by Heineken, 55% of respondents say they would go out more frequently if finding a place to go was as simple as finding something to watch on a streaming platform. Additionally, 59% say they would be more likely to try a new establishment if they received recommendations tailored to their interests and mood.

Both results suggest that interest in socializing has not necessarily disappeared, but that planning can represent a barrier to entertainment alternatives that require less effort.

“Streaming services have set a new standard for how easy it should be to discover something. We wanted to bring that same ease to finding places to meet up with friends.”explained Nabil Nasser, Global Director of Heineken. “Pubscription was born from a simple idea: if technology can help billions of people discover what to watch, why can’t it also help them discover opportunities to connect in real life?”he added.

In recent years, consumers have become accustomed to paying periodically to access catalogs of movies, music, video games or digital services. Heineken recovers that behavior, but applies it to an activity that does not traditionally work through memberships, such as going to a bar.

Bruno Bertelli, CEO and Global Creative Director of LePub Worldwide, believes that the value of the initiative lies precisely in giving a new function to a familiar behavior: “Innovation is more powerful when it is not limited to introducing something new, but finds a new way to enter people’s lives and culture”he pointed out. “With Pubscription we’re taking one of the defining behaviors of our time, subscribing to what we value and want constant access to, and turning it on its head. Instead of subscribing to yet another digital service, Heineken is pushing the idea of ​​subscribing to the usual bar, making going out something worth committing to,” has explained.

To develop “Pubscription”, Heineken has worked with Brand Innovation Lab, the Amazon Ads team specialized in creative solutions for brands. The collaboration has allowed the service to be integrated into Fire TV, taking advantage of an environment with which users are already familiar and from which they usually access entertainment platforms.

“By bringing the discovery mechanisms that viewers already enjoy on Fire TV to the real world, we have helped Heineken connect entertainment with experience”explained Duncan Mackie, International Head of Brand Innovation Lab at Amazon Ads. The manager believes that the initiative demonstrates how brands can take advantage of advertising and technological solutions to develop new forms of relationships with consumers.

“Pubscription” is currently in pilot phase in the United Kingdom. The experience is aimed at those over 18 years of age and linked to the participating Star Pubs pubs, so its availability depends on the establishments participating in the program. For now, the brand has not announced an international expansion nor has it detailed whether the service will continue after the testing phase.