Heineken offers “social compass” for better navigation through cities’ night life

Heineken is rolling out a new geo-centric digital effort called «Where Is Next» that comes as part of the “Cities of the World” campaign, started in mid-May. The new activation, devised in collaboration with R/GA London, uses the hash tag @wherenext  across several social-media sites as a a social compass that lets users discover the hottest locations across their cities each night.

The new handle is supposed to help people unlock various adventures they would never even think about. It scans the “the pulse of a city by using real-time, location-based social activity to show where’s ‘hot’ and guide urbanites to new adventures off their beaten track,” says the brand in the press release. The source will provide travelers and residents of the city with the latest updates on what’s going on in the city this night and where to go next. The effort also lives on a dedicated Google Maps-supported micro-site that builds on tweets, check-ins and photos from Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare.

Earlier this year, Heineken conducted a survey that revealed consumer’s fears and expectations towards city exploration. Among other findings, the brand discovered that consumer did’t want to “miss out” on the exciting experiences in their city, and just be there, right in the middle. Plus, people in different cities seek different things in visiting the hottest places. For instance, Londoners feel happy when going out brings personal development and defines success, New Yorkers consider visiting a popular night life location as gaining “social currency,” and people from Rio de Janeiro consider happiness as the goal.

Over the coming month, the hashtag-based activation will grow into a global, live social experiment, which will include TV commercials. The brand says that the upcoming campaign “will see real people in three cities challenged to uncover the best kept secrets in a race against the clock.”