As part of Heineken’s long-standing sponsorship of the globally renowned Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, the brand will unveil an exciting new innovation to connect fans through a shared love of music at this year’s festival.
Helping fans overcome the social barriers that exist in a festival setting, “The Clinker” is a smart band that wraps around Heineken cans and glasses, turning every “cheers” into a chat and a way for fans to find their people. Developed by Heineken and LePub Milan, LePub Amsterdam, and LePub New York via its tech and innovation collective LeGarage, the unique tech syncs with fans’ streaming data to detect musical commonalities with a simple “clink.” When two cans touch, a compatibility light signals a match and allows them to connect on social media, turning festival strangers into new connections through shared passion points.
Debuting at Heineken House and available across both Coachella weekends, “The Clinker” forms part of Heineken’s ongoing Fans Have More Friends platform. Launched earlier this year with a multi-channel campaign, the platform unites Heineken’s sponsorships under one global idea: that shared passions turn strangers into friends. With “The Clinker,” the platform extends from storytelling into product innovation, bringing the Fans Have More Friends proposition to life through a tangible, technology-driven experience at one of the world’s biggest cultural moments.
With research revealing that 97% of music fans globally believe it has the power to unite people, and more than half (55%) admitting they want to meet others with similar music tastes at live events, “The Clinker” has been designed to celebrate music as a shared language and its ability to bring people together.
Despite the social nature of festivals, many connections remain fleeting. Heineken’s research also reveals that while 77% of music fans have connected with someone at a live event, those interactions rarely last beyond the moment. “The Clinker” is designed to turn spontaneous encounters into more meaningful connections by helping fans instantly find common ground through the music they love, allowing them to swap details and connect on social media via its web-based app, turning shared fandom into friendships that go beyond the festival field.
Following its debut at Coachella, “The Clinker” is set to roll out across Heineken’s global festival sponsorship portfolio throughout the remainder of 2026.
Nabil Nasser, Global Head of Heineken, said: “The Clinker is the latest of Heineken’s unique innovations, designed to facilitate new connections around shared passions. It’s another proof point of our belief that fans have more friends, and with thousands of music fans coming together from across the globe, Coachella felt like the natural place to unveil it. The Clinker makes it easier to start a conversation, enabling music fans to turn a simple ‘cheers’ into a conversation starter and a new connection that can extend beyond the festival field.”
Bruno Bertelli, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Creative Officer, LePub Worldwide, added: “We aimed to build a new layer of connection, one where technology acts as a catalyst for bringing people together. A simple ‘cheers’ becomes a signal that two strangers already have something in common. Clinker turns that spark of recognition into real, genuine connection. That’s the promise of Fans Have More Friends.”
CREDITS
Head of Global Heineken Brand: Nabil Nasser
Heineken Global Communications Director: Dana Katz
Heineken Global Head Digital Consumer Innovation: Natacha Volpini
Heineken Global Communications Manager: Yoann Hellot
Heineken Global Digital Innovation Manager: Jared Martinez
Heineken Communications Lead Global Brands: Joey Brophy
Heineken Global Project Manager: Paul Suurmeijer
Heineken Global Technology Specialist: Anna Maganova
Heineken Chief Marketing Officer: Alison Payne
Heineken Marketing VP: Guilherme de Marchi Retz
Heineken Brand Director: Fabrizio D’Angelo
Heineken Brand Manager: Emily Bruno
Heineken Senior Director: Renika Papa
Heineken Marketing Director Partnerships & Consumer Experience: Pattie Falch
Heineken Associate Brand Manager: Ayana Sarro
Heineken Sponsorship Director: Christine Karimi
Heineken Legal: Nicole Scarangella
Heineken Director, External Communications: Thomas Palladino
Heineken VP, Media & Connected Consumer Experiences: Chris Price
Heineken Director Strategy & Planning: Stephanie Mobley
Heineken Senior Manager, Media: Zachary Freeman
Heineken Senior Manager, Digital Acceleration: Patricia Alon
LePub Milan, Amsterdam and New York City
Global CEO LePub, CCO LePub Worldwide: Bruno Bertelli
President LePub New York City: Lea Mastroberti
Global Chief Creative Officer: Cristiana Boccassini
Global Chief Creative Officer: Mihnea Gheorghiu
Global Chief Creative Officer LeGarage: Andrey Tyukavkin
Chief Creative Officer LePub Amsterdam: Kika Douglas
Chief Creative Officer LePub New York City: Jim Curtis
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Sol Ghafoor
EVP, Head of Brand Strategy LePub New York City: Katie Coane
Head of Data and Culture Lab LePub New York City: Lorna Ruane
Strategy Director: Cordelia Diamond
Data Strategy Director: Caroline May
Strategist: Aneta Junkova
Deputy Head of Art: Giuseppe Vescovi
Group Creative Director: Corina Patraucean
Creative Director: Roberto Ardigò
Creative Director: Stefano Zanoni
Creative Director: Guilherme Pinheiro
Creative Director: Linus Oura
Senior Art Director: Emanuela Gein Lombardi
Senior Copywriter: Natasha Anatra
Senior Copywriter: Nicolo Pavin
Senior Art Director: Mattia Pavin
Head of Client Service: Giada Salerno
Global Client Service Director: Shirine Aoun
Account Director: Rossana de Rosa
Account Director: Mark van Geemen
Account Manager: Candida Franchi
Exec Group Account Director: Tori Pierce
Account Director: Daniela Vinick
Account Executive: Emely Escobar
Associate Director, Project Management: Lexi Vogler
Director of Business Affairs: Natalie Roback
Head of PR & Communication: Isabella Cecconi
PR Director Culture & Entertainment: Alfa-Claude Djalo
Senior Digital PR Manager: Federica Fiorentino
Chief Production Officer: Francesca Zazzera
Producer: Leonardo D’Orsa
Art Buyer: Caterina Collesano
Executive Producer: Pim Leewenkamp
Head of LeGarage Amsterdam: Francois Rousseau
Experience Production Lead: Tianwei Wang
UX Design Director: Greta Bosisio
Senior UX Designer: Delano Kamp
Lead Creative Designer: Niccolo Gorfer
UI Designer: Maggie Giottoli
Associate Creative Director: Alejandro Gutierrez
Associate Creative Director: Daniel Vazquez Seoane
Digital Creative: Daniel Tolentino
Digital Creative: Matt Lebedev
Head of Innovation and Digital Production: Vittorio Cafiero
Global Head of Creative Technology: Mauro Mazzei
The Romans
Managing Director: Kate Brazier
Associate Director: Mollie Streek
Senior Account Managers: Robyn Bowden, Poppy King
Senior Account Executive: Warren Davies
Account Executive: Rebecca Kapoor
MBooth
Senior Vice President: Sally Alfis
Senior Vice President: Rita Covey
Vice President: Dana Stein
EVP, Influencer Practice Lead: Courtney Nally
Influencer Director: Kourtney Cooper
Executive Creative Director: James Spector
CORSO
Head of Client Services: Scott Cochran
Account Director: Alexis Murphy
Senior Account Executive: Natalia Munoz
dentsu
VP, Client Solutions & Planning: Corina Li
Group Director, Client Solutions & Comms Planning: Sarah Kessler
Senior Manager, Client Solutions: Jennifer Breda
Chief Strategy & Product Officer: Robert Walker
VP, Strategy: Tara Scanlon
Associate Director, Digital: Alexis Gilmore
Group Director, Paid Social: Julie Henderson
Senior Manager: Victoria Lucchesi
Manager, Paid Social: Gabriella Zubradt
Media Director: Maisie Wong
Associate Director: Kate Patterson
Senior Associate, OOH: Carli Lavoie
Acceleration
Account Director: Jordan Corry
SVP, Entertainment Marketing: Meg Grogan
Photo and Video Production
Photographer and Video: FM
KV Retouch: FM
Video Edit: Prodigious Italy
Head of Post Production: Alfredo Beretta
Offline Editor: Claudio Roveda
Online Editor: Sandro Iurini
Gabha Studios Executive Producer: Dafydd Upsdell
Gabha Studios Producer: Julie Nixon
Grade: Andrew Francis
Lead Comp: Stephen Pepper
CG: Manus Goan
Audio Post Production: Disc To Disc Productions S.r.l.
