HEINEKEN Launches Offline Encounters Campaign

More than half of adults feel overwhelmed by being on social media platforms, according to a recent survey by HEINEKEN. A new advertising campaign from the globally popular beer brand is calling attention to the fact that ever-increasing screen time is draining social batteries, and online communication is slowly taking the place of real-life encounters.

Social media has been with us for more than 20 years and has become an integral part of our lives, in many cases shaping them. According to new research by Heineken involving 17,000 people in a total of five countries, people spend an average of 5 hours and 48 minutes a day in front of their phone screens. Generation Z adults are online even more: they typically spend more than 6.5 hours – almost a full working day – scrolling through their smartphones. Across all age groups, three in five said their screen time had increased in the past year, and nearly half of those surveyed described themselves as always available online.

This has a very negative impact on social life: a quarter of respondents meet their friends in person at most once a month, and 40% communicate more with others on their phone than in real life. However, many people are also clearly feeling the negative effects of this process: 62% of respondents said that although they could easily connect with anyone on their smartphone, they often feel lonely. Among Generation Z, loneliness is most worrying, with 75% of them reporting it.

The solution is obvious, and respondents seem to be aware of it: 79% said they use their phone much less when they meet friends, proving that disengaging from the online social space is much easier when replacing time in the digital space with real human contact. Nearly a quarter of respondents would like to plan more offline meetings for themselves than before, and two thirds of respondents would like to bring back the 90s, free of smart devices.

The results of the survey have inspired a new campaign from HEINEKEN to encourage people to spend time in real communities rather than social networking sites, in a bid to combat digital overload. The popular brand has enlisted several international stars to support the cause, including American singer-songwriter Joe Jonas, frontman of the Jonas Brothers, who campaigns for offline encounters in the new commercial. "It's very easy to get stuck in the habit of scrolling the phone endlessly... I've been there. We live in a world where everyone is glued to social media – that's why I'm so happy to be part of this campaign that encourages people to put down their phones and connect in real life," he said on why Heineken's message is important to him.

"Supporting real community time has always been of paramount importance to HEINEKEN. This campaign is a gentle reminder of the many positive effects of occasionally relieving ourselves of the burden of a constant online presence. Stepping away from screens can lead to much more meaningful experiences – as the campaign hashtag #SocialOffSocials suggests. For example, we can choose live music over live entertainment: face-to-face encounters at festivals, concerts and nightclubs can add a color to life that social media can never match. We asked four popular Hungarian content producers to help us raise awareness of the importance of finding a healthy balance between online and offline. During the summer, it will be worth following Vivien Sápi, Emma Nagy, Levente Kapi and Vivi and Norbi, who will encourage their followers to spend more time in the real world through their own entertaining content," Barbara Lőrincz, Group Brand Manager for HEINEKEN Hungária's premium brands said.