As part of Heineken’s long-standing sponsorship of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, the brand will unveil an exciting innovation to connect fans through a shared love of music at this year’s festival.

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 the ability it has to bring people together.

Helping fans overcome the social barriers of 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. 

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 exciting new connections through shared passion points.  

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.

While Coachella will be the first social experience where consumers can try The Clinker, available on festival grounds only at Heineken House, this innovative technology is a broader expression of Heineken’s ongoing Fans Have More Friends platform. 

Launched earlier this year, Fans Have More Friends aims to elevate fan experiences at major music and sporting events by creating more opportunities to turn shared fandom into a catalyst for sociability.

Nabil Nasser, global head of the Heineken brand, 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.”