ShowHeroes Wins Bronze at dAwards for Heineken CTV Campaign, Outperforming Walled Gardens Across Key KPIs

ShowHeroes, a global leader in sustainable and innovative digital video and CTV solutions, in collaboration with Dentsu Malaysia and Heineken, has secured the Bronze award in the “Best Use of OTT/CTV” category at the prestigious dAwards in Malaysia. It marks a strategic breakthrough in connecting premium brands with consumers through Connected TV (CTV), a channel that is rapidly becoming central to video strategies across APAC and globally.

The project marked Heineken’s debut on Malaysian television via CTV while also demonstrating how CTV can outperform traditional walled gardens like META and YouTube on brand awareness and engagement.

Faced with strict regulations limiting alcohol advertising on conventional video platforms, Heineken and Dentsu turned to ShowHeroes’ CTV and OTT solutions — platforms that are less regulated, less cluttered, and increasingly scalable across Malaysia’s digital landscape. Recognizing the growing reach of CTV and second-screen behaviors among consumers, ShowHeroes designed a strategy focused on maximizing both visibility and interaction.

At the heart of the campaign was a creative-first approach. Global Heineken assets were localized and enhanced with heavy branding to ensure continuous visibility, while eye-catching branded frames were used to capture attention from the first second of each ad. ShowHeroes further capitalized on mobile engagement by incorporating QR codes within CTV ads, inviting viewers to interact via their smartphones — either to refresh their music playlist at a campaign microsite in Phase 1 or to RSVP for an exclusive Heineken event in Phase 2. This strategy effectively bridged the gap between awareness and action, using the audience’s natural second-screening behavior to drive interaction.

With this setup, ShowHeroes activated high-impact, CTV inventory to drive top-of-mind awareness for Heineken, delivering viewability of 93% and a video completion rate of 97%, more than double the performance of YouTube and nearly six times higher than META. In terms of cost-efficiency and engagement, the campaign achieved uplifts of up to 25% compared to walled gardens, reinforcing CTV’s role as a powerful alternative in the digital video mix. Engagement also exceeded expectations, with click-through rates surpassing industry benchmarks by 18%.

Tanya Priyank, VP International Growth & Better Media, at ShowHeroes:

ShowHeroes continues to demonstrate its position as a performance leader in the CTV space with this collaboration with Dentsu and Heineken, clearly illustrating how premium, brand-safe CTV solutions can drive superior outcomes for advertisers ready to move beyond traditional digital channels across global markets.

About ShowHeroes

ShowHeroes is a global leader in delivering sustainable and innovative digital video advertising and CTV solutions that create meaningful connections between brands and consumers, ensuring impactful media experiences.

As a co-publisher of leading online media outlets, the company upholds editorial excellence across a network of nearly 2 billion unique users and almost 80 billion views per month (total across all channels), promoting quality journalism from the most reliable information and entertainment sources.

With a privacy-first approach, ShowHeroes’ video solutions and semantic targeting technology, paired with matched video content, drive value and relevance for both users and advertisers.

Founded in 2016 by Ilhan Zengin, Mario Tiedemann, and Dennis Kirschner with headquarters in Berlin, the company launched ShowHeroes Group in 2020.

Composed of its core brand ShowHeroes, production entity ShowHeroes Studios, performance marketing solutions provider Agon Digital, and The Digital Distillery, a networking event and content platform, the group employs 400 people worldwide with operations in 20 markets throughout Europe, LATAM, and Asia.

According to Deloitte, ShowHeroes Group is one of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Germany and has been awarded the “Technology Fast 50” prize consecutively in 2021, 2022, and 2023. For the Financial Times’ “FT 1000” 2023, which ranks Europe’s fastest-growing companies, ShowHeroes Group is in the top 60 companies overall, second in Germany for growth, and third in the advertising and marketing sector.