ONE Asia Creative Awards
ONE Asia Creative Awards celebrates the best creative work of the year from the Asia Pacific region. Formerly known as the One Show Greater China Awards, which was founded in 2014 by The One Club for Creativity, the awards were established because of the tremendous growth and evolution of creativity in the Asia Pacific market. It presents an unparalleled level of prestige and honor for creatives, designers and innovators in the region. The awards are a fusion of culture where East meets West that brings the creativity of the region to the global stage.
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Category
Commerce
Annual ID
OA25_BEN011M
Background
Korean football fans face a unique challenge. Champions League matches in Europe are broadcased at 4am in Korea. A time where all bars are closed. High manpower costs make it too expensive for bar owners to keep bars running all night. As a result, football fans have no choice but to stay home and watch the matches alone.
Heineken saw this as an opportunity to tap into a social behaviour that runs 24/7: 'Jeong'. The shared sense of civic responsibility and mutual trust in Korean society. This social value is the reason why it is common to find Korean retail stores unmanned and fully automated. Customers are trusted to pay and behave responsibly even when no one is watching.
This level of social trust is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Leaving a store, let alone a bar, unmanned is usually a recipe for theft and abuse. Especially when put in the hands of passionate football fans.
Heineken saw this as an opportunity to tap into a social behaviour that runs 24/7: 'Jeong'. The shared sense of civic responsibility and mutual trust in Korean society. This social value is the reason why it is common to find Korean retail stores unmanned and fully automated. Customers are trusted to pay and behave responsibly even when no one is watching.
This level of social trust is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Leaving a store, let alone a bar, unmanned is usually a recipe for theft and abuse. Especially when put in the hands of passionate football fans.
Creative Idea
Heineken innovated and installed the first self-payment terminals for Korean sports bars. These terminals were designed with a seamless order-and-pay interface, letting fans pour and pay for pints in just a few taps. This approach crosses conventional boundaries by trusting fans to self-pay in a setting typically prone to misuse. It surprises by successfully incorporating the high level of social trust unique to Korean society, captivating football fans through its novelty. The idea transcends the operational challenge of high manpower costs afterhours, using a self-payment system to create a fresh revenue stream for bar owners and a new community hub for fans. Trust Bars incorporates breakthrough thinking by combining technology and cultural values to solve a business challenge.
Insights & Strategy
Trust Bars was grounded in a deep understanding of Korean consumer behavior and cultural insight. Specifically the concept of 'jeong', which emphasises trust and social responsibility. This insight, supported by Korea's success with self-service models and its reputation for safety, informed Heineken's creative solution to address bar closures during 4am Champions League matches. By introducing self-service bars, Heineken creatively reimagined the business challenge of high manpower costs, making the initiative directly relevant to both bar owners and fans seeking a communal experience. Proprietary self-payment terminals encouraged responsible fan participation and solved the logistical issue of keeping bars open at unconventional hours. The call to action was clear: enjoy football matches together, come pour and pay for your own beers. This strategy reinforced local values, and addressed real bar owner issues. All while boosting brand presence and loyalty in the Korean market.
Execution
Trust Bars were advertised on Heineken Korea's social media via an owned recruiment video, supplemented with influencer-partner content. Due to seating limitations in bars, football fans would RSVP through a microsite to score a spot. During match nights, games and promo activities were also implemented to further engage football fans, including a lucky draw that awarded one fan a ticket to the Champions League finals in Munich.
These matches did not just come with self-service beers, but also self-service snacks and fan merch. Even entry into the bars were automised via a QR scanning system. Korean influencers were also invited to these events to boost visibility. Trust Bars started running from the Champions League round of 16 matches, and will continue to run all the way to the finals in June. As of writing, Trust Bars has run in 4 bars across Seoul, and will continue to expand into more.
These matches did not just come with self-service beers, but also self-service snacks and fan merch. Even entry into the bars were automised via a QR scanning system. Korean influencers were also invited to these events to boost visibility. Trust Bars started running from the Champions League round of 16 matches, and will continue to run all the way to the finals in June. As of writing, Trust Bars has run in 4 bars across Seoul, and will continue to expand into more.
Results
- More than 30,000 people RSVPed to Trust Bars.
- Compared to Heineken Korea's average Instagram post, Trust Bars coverage saw a sharp 2276% boost in total views.
- Trust Bars changed consumer behaviour by giving a social setting to football fans who previously watched Champions League matches in isolation at home.
- On average, compared to if the selected bar was closed for the night, Trust Bars helped bar owners increase revenue by 257% in just one night.
- Trust Bars scored press coverage from Korea's most trendy online publications such as GQ, ELLE, W Korea, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Eyes Magazine and Allure.
- As such, Heineken benefitted from an increase in brand recognition among Korean football fans.
- Compared to Heineken Korea's average Instagram post, Trust Bars coverage saw a sharp 2276% boost in total views.
- Trust Bars changed consumer behaviour by giving a social setting to football fans who previously watched Champions League matches in isolation at home.
- On average, compared to if the selected bar was closed for the night, Trust Bars helped bar owners increase revenue by 257% in just one night.
- Trust Bars scored press coverage from Korea's most trendy online publications such as GQ, ELLE, W Korea, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Eyes Magazine and Allure.
- As such, Heineken benefitted from an increase in brand recognition among Korean football fans.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 2
Merit Award
Credits
Agency
LePub APAC / Singapore
LePub / Milan
Digital Agency
DFY / Seoul
Client / Brand
Heineken / Amsterdam
Production Company
Core.A Creative / Seoul
Cream / PARIS
Living Films Thailand / Bangkok
Music / Sound Production Company
Disctodisc Productions - Audio Post Production Italy / Paris
Associate Creative Director
Roberto Ardigò
Creative Director
Stefano Zanoni
Bruno Andrade
Sergey Mast
Director
Maxime Govare
Director of Photography
Laurent Tangy
Editor
Andrea Besana
Global Chief Creative Officer
Mihnea Gheorghiu
Cristiana Boccassini
Producer
Ashley Sunyoung
Sarah Kim
Designer & Art Director
Niccoló Orso Campanini
DoP
Eun Sung Maeng
Executive Producer
Michel Teicher
Global CEO LePub, CCO LePub Worldwide
Bruno Bertelli
Regional Executive Creative Director
Stephan Schwarz
Senior Art Director
Savio Fonseca
sunny chuang
Senior Copywriter
Denise Cheong
Jaime Ludena Diaz
1st AC
Do Hyun Lee
2nd AC
Tae Hoon Kim
3rd AC
Young Jun Kim
Account Director
Amira Ramadan
Assistant Producer
Blake Jung
Backend Developer
Seung Hyun Kim
Bestboy
Suyeol Lim
Boom Operator
Hyunbae Jeon
Business Director
Francesca Baldrighi
CEO
Byung Sam Hwang
Client Services Director
Francesca Babet
Colour Grading
Luca Parma
COO
Erin Bai
Creative Services Manager
Nigel Tan
Data Manager
Min Jae Kim
Flame Artist
Ryon Chan
Frontend Developer
Ji Sun Lee
Gaffer
Seunggeun Lee
Group Account Director
Alicia Tiong
LePub APAC, Managing Director
Penny Sadlier
Lighting Crew
Seokhwan Jeong
Line Producer
Clotilde Lecuillier
Tim Salze
Production Design
Alex Ryu
Production Design Team
Yonghun Ryu
Project Management
Misoo Seok
Na Hyeon Park
Senior Editor
Fong -
Germain Wu
Senior Integrated Producer
Anita Toh
Senior Post-Producer
Charmaine Wong
Senior Project Manager
Farhan Wahab
TV PRODUCER
Martina Mozzillo
UI Design
Hee Yoon Jung
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