The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Beko lets people bequeath their appliances in a will — Epica 2024 PR Grand Prix
Beko proves durability by drafting a real will addendum for bequeathing appliances, plus a murder-mystery film — 259M views, 88% positive sentiment.
Beko
What it had to solve
Beko had invested heavily in durability, but consumers still saw the brand as disposable; its 'fame brief' asked the VML network for a big, memorable way to change category perception.
How it works
In April 2024, Beko — the Turkish home-appliance brand — set out to fix a gap between its products and its reputation. Consumers did not rate Beko as durable, despite the company's investments in quality and reliability. The brief to its agency network, described as a 'fame brief', was to change category perception in a big, memorable way.
VML's winning idea came from reading durability literally: Beko products last so long they may outlive their owners, so they deserve a place in a will. The agency consulted legal teams at WPP and Beko to draft a genuine 'Beko Inheritance Addendum' — a document owners could use to bequeath their appliances — launched in Spain, Egypt and Poland and downloadable in other markets. Around it, VML made a film playing the classic inheritance-drama scene: a family gathers in a wood-panelled room for a lawyer's reading, and a Beko fridge becomes the coveted heirloom.
The campaign reached 528 million people socially with 2.8 billion impressions overall. The launch film became Beko's most-viewed ad ever at 259 million views, the addendum landing page was accessed 1.5 million times, and brand sentiment rose to 88% positive. The work won the Epica 2024 PR Grand Prix and a Media Grand Prix, plus a Bronze at Cannes Lions 2024.
Why it lands
- It made a product claim verifiable: the addendum was a real, legally consulted document, not an ad claim — the proof was built into the idea.
- Hijacking inheritance, one of society's oldest institutions, said 'these appliances outlast their owners' in a way no spec sheet could.
- The inheritance-genre film turned a white-goods message into entertainment, which is what earned the 528M social reach and mass coverage.
- It gave consumers something to do — download their own addendum — turning a claim into an owned asset and a ritual.
- The client backed a category-breaking tone (a dark, wood-panelled room in fridge advertising), so the idea stayed intact through production.
What it did
528 million social reach and 2.8 billion impressions overall; the launch film became Beko's most-viewed ad ever at 259 million views; the addendum page got 1.5 million visits; sentiment rose to 88% positive; Epica 2024 PR and Media Grands Prix plus a Cannes Lions 2024 Bronze.
What you can take
A durability claim becomes tangible when the brand creates the institution that proves it — a real inheritance addendum — then uses a genre film to make the proof entertaining enough to share.
Since then
The Beko Inheritance became one of the most awarded appliance campaigns of 2024–2025: Epica 2024 PR and Media Grands Prix, a Cannes Lions 2024 Bronze, and entries across other shows. Beko and VML extended the thought into research on the strange objects people actually pass on — live tortoises, U-Boat overcoats, 12-foot giraffes — feeding a second wave of PR. When asked whether anyone had actually bequeathed a Beko appliance, the CCO said no one had told them yet, which she took as good news: it meant everyone involved was still alive.
Sources
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