The campaign consists of a real-life experiment that puts together two strangers, divided by their beliefs, meeting for the first time. The pairings include a feminist with an anti-feminist, a transgender with someone who is against gender-variant people, and a climate change activist with someone who thinks climate change is "piffle". At the end of the experiment, their opposing beliefs are revealed and they can decide to either leave, or sit down and discuss their views over a bottle of Heineken.
Watch the video to discover their reaction!
An important message of the campaign is to 'focus on the things that unite us rather than divide us'. Cindy Tervoort, Head of Marketing at HEINEKEN UK explains: "We do not all support the same football team, listen to the same music or share the same taste in clothes. We know we're never going to agree on everything but there will also be common ground. Whether it's 1950, 2017 or 2027, being open lets us get more out of life. It makes the world a more interesting place. And it makes every story worth listening to."
Although you might fully agree with the above, in our professional lives we often care more about volume than about true connection. We live in a world that is increasingly focused on making and managing connections. As a result, we race to the next networking event where we hand out as many business cards as we can, work overtime to add to our LinkedIn contacts and create massive Twitter feeds in the hope of gaining lots of followers.
With this blog, I want to challenge you to forget about the volume and to make an honest effort to connect with that colleague you do not talk to very often, with that customer who is more than just a customer, with that unknown person you happen to encounter, … Just say 'Hello' and begin a conversation. Get to know what those people are passionate about, share your own unique, intriguing perspective, and most of all: listen to their story!
Ultimately, we humans want to connect.
And when we are connected, we are at our best.
Isn't that what we all want: bring out the best in people?
Leen Joos
