Global Media Network of the Year:
Carat
Silver
Non-Traditional
Beverages
| Entrant: | LePub, Milan |
| Brand: | Heineken |
| Title: | "Pub Succession" |
| Corporate Name of Client: | Heineken |
| Client Company: | Heineken, Amsterdam |
| Media Companies: | Dentsu Red Star, Dublin/Dentsu Red Star, New York/Dentsu Red Star, Melbourne |
| Media Company Managing Director: | Marcelle Hoyek |
| Media Company Chief Operations Officer - Dentsu Red Star, Ireland: | Ian Mc Grath |
| Media Company Senior Account Manager - Dentsu Red Star, Ireland: | Aoife Higgins |
| Media Company Client Lead - Dentsu Red Star, U.S: | Corina Li |
| Media Company OOH Lead - Dentsu Red Star, U.S: | Maisie Wong |
| Media Company Print Lead - Dentsu Red Star, U.S: | Kathleen Brogan |
| Media Company Head of Client Partnerships - Dentsu Red Star, Australia: | Jason Smith |
| PR Companies: | The Romans, London/Thinkhouse, Dublin/MBooth, New York |
| PR Company Associate Director: | Liam O’Brien |
| PR Company Senior Account Director: | Sophie Lambert-Russell |
| PR Company Account Director: | Normandie Tottman |
| PR Company Founder and Head of Creative Innovation - Thinkhouse: | Jane McDaid |
| PR Company Group Director, PR & Advocacy - Thinkhouse: | Laura Wall |
| PR Company Senior Account Manager, PR & Advocacy - Thinkhouse: | Lucy Carroll |
| PR Company Senior Vice President, Client Lead: | Sally Alfis |
| PR Company Vice President - MBooth: | Alex Williams |
| PR Company Account Supervisor - MBooth: | Theo Luterman |
| PR Company Managing Director: | Kate Brazier |
| PR Company Creative Director: | Dan Roberts |
| PR Companies Account Executive(s): | Rebecca Kapoor/Abbie Goodman |
| Agency: | LePub, Milan/Publicis Dublin, Dublin |
| Agency CEO: | Bruno Bertelli |
| Agency Global Chief Creative Officers: | Cristiana Boccassini/Mihnea Gheorghiu |
| Agency Executive Creative Directors: | Eoin Sherry/Gaston Soto |
| Agency Creative Director: | Peter Dobbyn |
| Agency Board Creative Director - Publicis Dublin: | Ger Roe |
| Agency Associate Creative Directors: | Julien Lefevre/David Campese/Pedro Gropo |
| Agency Copywriter: | Natasha Anatra |
| Agency Art Director: | Emanuela Gein Lombardi |
| Agency Head of Art: | Andrea Ferlauto |
| Agency Head of Production: | Niamh Skelly |
| Agency Executive Producer: | Courtney Trent |
| Agency Senior Producer: | Rachel Murray |
| Agency Producer: | Claire Boylan |
| Agency Digital Producer: | Kejsi Haxi |
| Agency Technical Director: | Cian McIntyre |
| Agency Senior Designer: | Fabio Iacomino |
| Agency Head of Digital Production: | Vittorio Cafiero |
| Agency PR & Stills Photographer - Publicis Dublin: | Hannah McGlynn |
| Agency Global Head of PR & Communication: | Isabella Cecconi |
| Agency Senior PR Manager: | Luca Orioli |
| Agency Managing Director: | Geraldine Jones |
| Agency Head of Strategy: | James Moore |
| Agency Strategy Director: | Adriano Eliezer |
| Agency Group Account Director: | Ruth McCormack |
| Agency Account Directors: | Gonzalo Gutierrez Gauna/Gemma Sherlock |
| Agency Account Manager: | Francesca Gatti |
| Agency Client Service Director: | Shirine Aoun/Ilaria Castiglioni |
| Production Company: | Banjoman, Dublin |
| Production Companies Director(s): | Dermot Malone/Steve Kenny |
| Production Company Producer: | Keith Bradley |
| Production Companies DoP(s): | Luke Jacobs/Aidan Gault |
| Production Company Head of Production: | Matt D’Arcy |
| Production Company Post-Producer - Freelance: | Dafydd Upsdell |
| Production Companies Colourists - Freelance: | Grading Gabha/Andrew Francis |
| Production Company Editor - Freelance: | Rob Hergarty |
Cultural Context:
Since 1872, a unique law requires Irish publicans to display their family name above their pub’s door. For generations, these names have been passed down, becoming cornerstones of Irish culture and community.
But today, those names are disappearing. McMahon. McGrath. McDermott. McCormack. McAuley. McCabe. McLoughlin. Soon, it won’t be McLoughlin’s. Just another McDonald’s. Pubs are closing. Family names are being replaced not by new Irish owners, but by global chainfood franchises.
Why? Because 84% of Irish pub owners say their children don’t want to inherit the pub. Economic pressure, high inheritance taxes, and modern lifestyles are breaking the chain of succession.
What’s being lost isn’t just local business. It’s Ireland’s oldest social fabric, stitched together through names, storytelling, and shared space.
If nothing is done, there will be no more family pubs. No more names above the doors.
No more roots.
How? By building a platform to help retiring Irish publicans pass the pint, with one catch: their successor must share the same surname. Naturally, we launched with a global hunt for the next McLoughlin.
Our mission? Track down every McLoughlin on the planet. From New York to Sydney, Buenos Aires to Hanoi, we scoured 123 countries and tapped into a global network of 88 million people of Irish descent.
Why global? Because while Ireland has just 5 million residents, there are over 88 million people of Irish descent worldwide, and 64% of second-gen Irish dream of returning home.
With a blitz of TV spots, social media storms, giant billboards, front-page headlines, and cheeky PR, we made sure every last McLoughlin got the message: your family’s legacy and the bar tab is calling.
The Call to Action. We tapped into diaspora pride and identity, making cultural urgency personal, emotional, and impossible to ignore. Retiring publican Josie McLoughlin had just one request: "I’m selling the most beautiful pub in Ireland, but only if you're a McLoughlin."
But how could we increase our chances of finding a buyer for McLoughlin’s?
We launched the campaign on the most nostalgic day of the year: St. Patrick’s Day.
We launched on the day where every Irish person in the world is missing home... St Patrick’s Day. The interest began pouring in immediately. We received genuine and spontaneous responses from McLoughlin’s willing to travel Thousands responded.
Over 2,000 McLoughlins applied. Some were ready to change their name just to qualify. And Some people went a little overboard. “I’d change my name.” “Does McLaughlin count?” “Josie… will you marry me?”.
But it couldn’t be any old McLoughlin. It had to be the right one. Josie, the owner, chose Alan McLoughlin from Canada. He flew to Achill Island. Met the locals. Signed the papers. The name stayed on the door.
And that’s not all, this was the start: We create a AI generated ads platform.
From there, we built PubSuccession.com, a global database connecting pub owners with buyers who share their pub’s name.
We added AI-powered, self-generating campaigns for every applicant, turning each pub name into hyper-personalized ads. A simple and performant self-generating ads powered by AI: for example, when Gerry Keeling applies AI to automatically create entire campaigns, we generate ads across all media channels.
For instance, for Keeling’s Pub, one of the other bars we’re helping, Gerry Keeling uses our system to produce a self-made campaign featuring auto-targeted ads and local social content. Every pub name becomes a lead.
This wasn’t just a marketing stunt. It’s a cultural rescue mission, and a smart business move. By saving the names above the doors, Heineken is preserving the legacy of Ireland’s family pubs and helping secure their future. But we’re not just doing this out of the goodness of our own hearts only. It’s also smart business. Heineken is Ireland’s number one beer brand, but Guinness still dominates in the on-trade. So we’re building a long-term platform to help family pubs find successors who share the same name keeping the name above the door, and the pub alive, for generations to come.