Heineken Crowns Winners of Ideas Brewery Challenge

15 Aug 2013 --- Today HEINEKEN unveiled the winning ideas for its 60+ Challenge, a three month global innovation challenge for creatives, innovators and designers. Each taking home a share of $10,000, the three winning ideas appealed directly to the target market of the over 60s, taking into consideration both packaging and taste. The high quality of the six concepts that were shortlisted in an earlier phase of the Challenge made the judging process incredibly tough.

Tony Dianoff, from Finland, was awarded first place with Fahrenheit +60, a range of beers brewed differently to give great new tastes with a great story to tell. In second place came Nathan Gabriele (USA) with an innovative labeling idea, while Charles McGregor's (Australia) wine-inspired beer recipe was third.

The challenge built on consumer insights identified in a previous Ideas Brewery contest earlier this year, and saw creative minds from around the world submit fresh ideas to enhance the drinking experience for the 60+ consumer. The ideas took into consideration the distinctive attitudes and needs of this group.
By the end of the Challenge, almost 150 ideas were submitted online, which were then reduced to a shortlist of six finalists, who impressed the multi-functional HEINEKEN judging team.

The six shortlist candidates were invited to the HEINEKEN headquarters in Amsterdam for a two and a half day workshop, where they collaborated with HEINEKEN innovation experts and external coaches to fine-tune their ideas. The candidates built their initial ideas into full concepts and the workshop culminated with them pitching them to the official jury. Alex Goh (designtaxi.com), Dominic Wilcox (speed creator), Daniel Quinn (Happen) and Paul Stanger and Bram Westenbrink of HEINEKEN judged all six pitches based on four criteria: innovativeness, technical feasibility, commercial feasibility and the pitch presentation.

Fahrenheit +60 was awarded the top prize due to its roots in the art of beer making, its ease of execution and because it provides a great platform for story-telling. Above all, the quality of Tony Dianoff's concept was seen as highly innovative and campaign-able.

Talking about the challenge, HEINEKEN Global Innovation Manager Paul Stanger said: "Tony Dianoff really impressed the whole judging panel. He clearly understood the Challenge and the needs of the 60+ market. We're looking forward to taking this project further, following our co-creation workshop, to see if we can bring the idea into reality. We were particularly struck by Tony's use of the insight that the 60+ consumer want to discover new tastes and the way he achieved this within our established brewing process. "

Tony Dianoff said: "When I saw the Ideas Brewery 60+ Challenge, I knew I had to enter. I spent weeks researching the over 60's before I even put pen to paper, and this helped me create Fahrenheit +60. What's so intriguing about this group is that so few people look to them specifically, so it was rich territory for a creative concept. The chance to work with HEINEKEN on my creative idea is very exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results."

Paul Stanger continued: "Innovation is a key pillar for HEINEKEN. We strive to be a forward thinking company, creating products and experiences that our customers are asking for. The Ideas Brewery crowd sourcing initiative is one of the Open Innovation initiatives within the company. The platform allows us to interact with creative minds around the world, to make sure that we are always on the front foot."