Urban dwellers have been stepping out of their comfort zones and rediscovering their cities with Heineken®, the world’s leading international premium beer. To kick start the #OpenYourCity movement, Heineken® hosted a series of epic city explorations in Jo’burg, Cape Town and Durban where consumers were challenged to take a break from their mundane routines and embrace the unexpected. Heineken® took them on an incredible journey through their city, with stop-offs at a number of undisclosed (and unexpected) locations. 

The final #OpenYourCity event was held on Saturday, December 9^th at the iconic Old Park Station in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Invited guests were given very little information about the event and were notified of the location only a few days before – a challenge to step out of their comfort zones and embrace the unknown. On the night, the brand served up ‘red star treatment’; a visual firework spectacle opened the city like never before; and local and international artists, Kwesta and Wale lit-up the stage.

The one-of-a-kind collaboration between Kwesta and Wale included the first-ever live performance of the chart-topping hit, Spirit. The award-winning Black Coffee, Euphonik, Ms Cosmo, DJ Capital, DJ Franky, DJ Banques, TMO, and a number of other notable DJs concluded the line-up to ensure that guests experienced the best local talent. Television presenter and model KNaomi MC’d the event alongside YFM’s drive time presenter DJ Sabby. Others in attendance included friends of the brand Minnie Dlamini; Chris Jafta and Sandile Ntshingila as well as Dineo Moeketsi, Solo and Lungile Shabalala.

“The Open Your City campaign has seen consumers engage in a series of activations filled with intrigue and excitement, which has changed the way our Heineken® fans view their cities. By partnering with premium venues and the country’s leading DJ’s and influencers throughout the campaign, we made sure everyone had only the best experiences, and I’m proud to say that Newtown was no different,” says Heineken® South Africa Marketing Manager, Themba Ratsibe.

Tobie Van Schalkwyk, former Financial Manager at Hemingways Casino in the Eastern Cape, has moved across the country to take up the post of Complex General Manager at Blackrock Casino, Hotel and Entertainment.

He brings with him the same philosophies that saw him increase productivity and improve efficiencies in his previous position. These include his open-door policy, team-centric approach to leadership and having department heads take ownership of their departments’ performance.  

Tobie jokes that his favourite element of his new role is not having to sit in his office as much as when he was a Financial Manager, but says that in all seriousness, it is the challenge of ensuring the property delivers to its potential.

For him, a typical day as General Manager Starts with him walking all areas of the property – both front and back of house and addressing any operational challenges together with department heads. He then makes time to tackle his administrative duties and above all schedules regular sessions with his team to ensure productive communication and innovation is a focal point.

Under Tobie’s experienced hand, it is inevitable he will achieve his vision of Blackrock Casino, Hotel and Entertainment being the preferred entertainment provider in Northern KwaZulu-Natal in terms of gaming, hotel accommodation, as well as food and beverage.

When not hard at work, this husband and father of three unwinds with a game of golf. 

For more information, visit: https://www.tsogosun.com/blackrock-casino.

Heineken®, the world’s leading international premium beer, is urging South Africans to step out of their comfort-zones and explore their city.

It’s far too easy to get caught in a rut – socializing with the same people, in the same places, out of comfortable habit. But it’s often the spontaneous nights out when one tries something new that the unexpected magic happens. Finding hidden gems within your city and rubbing shoulders with a new crowd.

“When you open your city, you open your world, which is why we’re on a global quest to inspire Heineken® fans to view their cities in a totally new light. We want to ignite the imagination of a new generation of urban dwellers, by inviting people to explore their metropole by simply visiting new parts of their city to see what it has to offer” says Heineken® South Africa Marketing Manager, Themba Ratsibe.

We are doing a competition to give away tickets to the main #OpenYourCity event that will be taking place on Saturday, 9 December 2017. The day will see a fusion of international and local artists. onstage Heineken fans can look forward to performances by Wale, Kwesta, Black Coffee, Euphonik and MS Cosmo to mention a few. 

Competition details: 

We are giving away 5 double tickets to the event for you to rub shoulders with some of the artists. All you have to do is share with us some of the reason why you deserve to #OpenYourCity with Heineken in the comments below 

On 23 November, Cape Town’s chic hotspot Zenith Sky Bar was the host to the  021 edition of the Playbook Hub Play Session.

The mother city’s iconic Table Mountain was the perfect backdrop for the celebration of beautiful people, food, drink, and networking.

Popular Radio 2000 host, Kia Johnson, and Good Hope FM’s Khanya Siyengo were among the invited guests who got their first peek into the online procurement platform, set to take the nation by storm.

Playbook is a web-based booking platform that allows for creatives of all disciplines to showcase their specialized offerings at no cost to them. The platform allows users to contact them, their managers or agents for bookings, performances or the commissioning of work.

Each aspect of the platform has been developed to allow businesses, corporates, event companies or private individuals a simplified way to source, select, communicate and secure creatives.

“The Play Session is an opportunity for networking from all players because, in the end, we all need each other to make projects a success. I always tell people, the platform was developed from sheer frustration when it came to booking artists and all the admin that surrounded it. Today, we can give a creative the ease of mind of not having to write another invoice or a corporate worry about losing a talent in the eleventh hour. With Playbook Hub, everyone plays by the book,” commented Playbook Hub founder Rudi Pienaar.

The Play Sessions will be held every month between Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. For more information on the platform go to www.playbookhub.com and follow Playbook Hub on Instagram @playbookhub or Facebook @joinplaybook.

Heineken®, the world’s leading international premium beer is continuing their call for the brave and encourage people to get out of their comfort zone. This weekend Heineken ® hosted an exclusive invite-only event as part of their #OpenYourCity campaign. 

The event was held on Saturday, 18 November at the picturesque Views at 25 located in Morningside.

Guests in attendance were treated to a lovely afternoon that led to night consisting of good music, scrumptious food, good company and of course a cold premium beer in hand.  

This was one event nobody could afford to miss out on. Great Job Heineken on the #OpenYourCity Campaign, you made us discover our city even better.