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Urban life is brimming with people, yet many city dwellers feel strikingly alone. Research commissioned by Heineken in six major cities found that over half of residents often feel lonely, and one-third experience isolation at least weekly. This “proximity paradox” – being surrounded by people but lacking meaningful connection – is especially pronounced among younger generations (47% of Gen Z and Millennials report frequent feelings of isolation). City design may be part of the problem: 35% of adults say their city fails to encourage social interaction. In fast-paced Seoul, 53% of people feel the city is built for work more than socialising, and 37% say there are too few communal spaces. Ironically, when viewed from above, Seoul’s landscape reveals abundant flat green rooftops sitting largely unused – untapped potential for community building hiding in plain sight.
Heineken saw an opportunity to flip this paradox on its head. In late 2025 the Dutch brewer launched “Rooftop Revival,” an innovative brand activation in Seoul designed to transform the city’s forgotten rooftops into vibrant social hubs. Rather than constructing new venues, Heineken reimagined existing rooftop spaces as pop-up gathering spots, demonstrating that sometimes all it takes to spark connection is a fresh look at what’s already around us. The campaign was developed in partnership with creative agency LePub and rooted in a simple idea: modern cities don’t necessarily need more physical structures for people to meet – they need a new perspective on where people can meet.
Satellite treasure hunt: To generate buzz and participation, Heineken literally dropped the location of each event “from space.” Using high-resolution satellite imagery of Seoul, the brand marked a few select rooftops with its iconic red star logo as a pinpoint, visible in overhead views. These satellite images – provided by space imaging company Maxar – were released as clues, challenging Seoul residents to seek out the mystery locations on the ground. In essence, Heineken turned the city into a treasure map, inviting people to rediscover their own city from a new angle. Curious locals eagerly hunted for the red stars across various neighborhoods and, upon finding them, gained access to exclusive rooftop events. This scavenger hunt approach flipped technology into a tool for human connection: digital satellite maps became interactive invitations rather than just navigation aids.
Once the secret rooftop venues were discovered, attendees stepped into completely transformed spaces. What had been empty, utilitarian rooftops were remade into intimate open-air “living rooms” for the city. Each of the three primary event locations offered a unique cultural experience curated by some of Korea’s top creatives:
Crucially, these experiences were not random entertainment – they were chosen to resonate with local culture and highlight shared passions. By engaging music, art, and food – universal languages of social bonding – the events attracted a diverse mix of Seoulites and created an environment conducive to conversation. Each rooftop was even outfitted with a bit of Korean tradition: Heineken installed modern versions of the “Pyeong-sang,” a classic Korean outdoor wooden platform for gathering. Complete with the brand’s red-star parasols (fitted with ice buckets for cold beer and even Bluetooth speakers), these platforms blended tradition with contemporary socializing, symbolizing how old spaces can serve new community needs.
Aerial view of Seoul’s green rooftops punctuated by Heineken’s red star, each marking a once-unused roof now turned into a lively social space. Residents gathered on these pop-up rooftop lounges – a tangible reminder that connection may be just above us, waiting to be unlocked.
The response from the public underscored the campaign’s relevance. Despite being limited to only a few events, interest was overwhelming – over 8,000 people applied for a chance to attend the Rooftop Revival gatherings in Seoul. This high demand validated the insight that people are craving opportunities to connect and will seize even unconventional ones. Those who did attend shared enthusiastic stories of meeting new friends in these unlikely rooftop settings over a cold Heineken. In effect, the brand managed to turn isolated individuals into a temporary community, simply by providing a venue and occasion for face-to-face interaction. What started as an experimental activation became, for three days, a micro-social movement atop the city.
Visually, Rooftop Revival was as refreshing as its concept. Heineken knew that compelling storytelling would extend the impact beyond the lucky event attendees. To document and amplify the campaign, they partnered with renowned aerial photographer Tom Hegen, known for his striking images of human landscapes. Hegen flew over Seoul to capture the rooftop events from above, producing stunning photographs that turned each social gathering into a piece of art. In his imagery, clusters of people on bright green roofs with a red star umbrella at the center looked like vivid blooms of social life in the concrete jungle. These shots dramatized the campaign’s core message – that connection can blossom in even the most overlooked places – and made the invisible visible.
The aerial photos were not just for show; Heineken leveraged them for broader reach. The visuals were displayed across digital out-of-home billboards throughout Seoul, effectively bringing the Rooftop Revival story to commuters and pedestrians city-wide. A passerby on the street could suddenly see their own city blocks from a satellite perspective – with a red star beckoning – and realize a party was happening on a nearby rooftop. This integration of the campaign’s imagery into everyday urban life blurred the line between marketing and public art. It reinforced a sense that social connection was the talk of the town, visible on the city skyline itself. Social media naturally picked up the content as well, with attendees and local media sharing both on-the-ground and aerial views of the events, further magnifying the conversation around urban loneliness and solutions.
Heineken’s creative use of its red star logo deserves special mention. The red star is one of the most recognizable brand icons in the beer industry, and in Rooftop Revival it became more than a logo – it was a literal beacon. By placing large red star installations on rooftops and in satellite maps, Heineken turned its brand symbol into a guidepost for community. This imaginative branding move ensured that even without traditional ads, anyone glancing at the campaign images knew who was behind it. It’s a clever example of consistent branding: the logo stayed the same, but its context was ingeniously shifted to fit the campaign (from beer bottles and bar signs to aerial markers visible from space). The result is brand visibility that feels earned through creativity, not forced through ad spend.
Notably, Tom Hegen himself remarked on the deeper implication of this project. Having observed cities from above, Hegen noted that solutions to loneliness don’t always require new infrastructure – “just a new perspective to refresh social life”. Indeed, Rooftop Revival was precisely that: a new perspective (the rooftop view) revealing that the means to connect were around us all along. By documenting Seoul’s dormant rooftops coming alive, the campaign offered a hopeful visual metaphor that got people talking: what other spaces in our cities could we revive for social good?
Rooftop Revival garnered praise not only from participants but also from design experts and community leaders. Byoung Soo Cho, a prominent Korean architect, applauded the initiative as proof that rethinking existing spaces can help “revive social life” in overcrowded cities. In his view, modern urban environments have prioritized productivity at the expense of human interaction – but projects like this show that the trend can be reversed without waiting for major structural changes. “There are many forgotten spaces that can become places of renewal,” Cho noted, emphasizing that each once-unused roof was turned into a “vibrant hub of creativity” where people feel empowered to connect. Such endorsement from an architect underscores that the campaign wasn’t just a beer promotion; it was a miniature urban intervention aligned with city planning and wellbeing goals.
City officials and local media in Seoul also reacted positively. The events came at a time when public concern about social isolation was high (especially after years of pandemic-related distancing), tapping into a timely conversation. By physically demonstrating how idle spaces could be repurposed for community benefit, Heineken’s activation resonated as a public service of sorts – albeit one delivered by a private brand. The campaign’s tagline, “There’s always ROOF for social life,” cheekily captured this sentiment, and soon became a talking point online. In marketing circles, Rooftop Revival quickly turned into a case study in creative experiential marketing, earning coverage from industry publications across the globe.
From a brand perspective, the impact for Heineken goes beyond the immediate buzz. The campaign strengthened Heineken’s longstanding brand positioning around conviviality and togetherness. For years, Heineken’s messaging has often revolved around bringing people together (famously, its ads have depicted strangers bonding over beers despite differences). Rooftop Revival took that ethos off the screen and into the real world. By acting as a facilitator of connections in the community, Heineken effectively moved from being just a beer supplier to a social catalyst. This kind of authenticity – where the brand is literally practicing what it preaches – can deepen consumer loyalty. As one marketing analyst observed, by stepping directly into the loneliness crisis as a connector, Heineken found a role it could truly own: championing sociability in a city that was struggling to find it.
For brand owners and marketing leaders, especially in the alcohol and hospitality industry, Heineken’s Rooftop Revival offers valuable insights into effective, people-first marketing. Below are key takeaways from this campaign:
It’s worth noting that Rooftop Revival is part of a broader push by Heineken to address social isolation – a theme the brand has been consistently weaving into its campaigns. Earlier in 2025, for example, Heineken executed a “Social Screen” activation in South Africa aimed at football fans. In that stunt, the company turned a multitude of individual smartphones into a giant, unified screen to enable strangers to watch a soccer match together, side by side. The premise was similar: transform technology that typically isolates us into a conduit for shared experience. From sports pubs to city rooftops, Heineken is intentionally positioning itself as an enabler of real-life camaraderie in an increasingly digital, solitary age. This consistency in purpose (bringing people together) combined with creativity in execution across different contexts (sports, music, urban life) is strengthening Heineken’s identity as a brand that doesn’t just sell beer, but sells social experiences.
Encouragingly, Heineken views the Seoul Rooftop Revival not as a one-off, but as a pilot for other cities. “We see this as a model for urban spaces worldwide to foster genuine social connection in an often isolating world,” says Nabil Nasser, Heineken’s Global Head of Brand. In the coming months and years, the company plans to “watch this space” (perhaps literally via satellite) and explore similar revivals of overlooked spaces in different urban centers. This could mean that city dwellers elsewhere might soon find a red star popping up in their own local skyline, marking the spot where a new social adventure awaits.
Heineken’s Rooftop Revival serves as a compelling case study in how a brand can creatively and authentically live its values. In an era when many consumers long for genuine connection, the campaign proved that a savvy brand can step in to facilitate that need – not by diverting from its business, but by amplifying what its business already stands for. The activation addressed a societal issue (urban loneliness) in a way that was on-brand, inventive, and experience-driven, thus ticking all the boxes of Google’s people-first content guidelines: original, useful, and rooted in real expertise and effort.
For marketing leaders, the success of Rooftop Revival underscores a few final thoughts. First, people-first campaigns win: starting from empathy for the audience’s life experience will yield ideas that people actually care about. Second, don’t be afraid to embrace a big creative idea that might seem unconventional – whether it’s using satellites and rooftops or any other non-traditional medium – if it helps cut through the noise and engage people in a fresh way. Third, remember that building a brand is a marathon, not a sprint. Heineken’s efforts to champion social connection did not begin or end with this rooftop project; it’s an ongoing narrative that the brand has been consistently reinforcing. Such continuity builds trust and familiarity over time, which is invaluable.
In the crowded beer market, Heineken managed to differentiate itself not by talking about its product, but by demonstrating its purpose. Rooftop Revival turned marketing into a form of urban activism, albeit on a small scale, yielding benefits for both the community and the brand. It’s a potent reminder that even in business, doing good and doing well can go hand in hand. As cities continue to grow and the need for human connection grows with them, brands that find creative ways to genuinely bring people together will likely earn a lasting place in consumers’ hearts – and, by extension, in their shopping carts. In the end, the Rooftop Revival initiative isn’t just about rooftops or beer; it’s about sparking moments of togetherness. And as Heineken has shown, there’s always “roof” for more of those moments in marketing.
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