AWARDS :

SILVER

SUB CATEGORY :

EVENT & FIELD MARKETING

COMPANY ENTERING :

BBDO PROXIMITY SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

ENTRY TITLE :

BEER GAO

BRAND :

GUINNESS

ADVERTISER :

ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES SINGAPORE

AGENCY :

BBDO PROXIMITY SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER :

RONALD NG

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

PRIMUS NAIR

COPYWRITER :

NIKHIL PANJWANI

ART DIRECTOR :

GARY LIM/JING QIU

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :

JOE BRAITHWAITE/FIONA HUANG

ACCOUNT MANAGER :

ADELINE KWEK

STRATEGIC PLANNER :

MINDY YAP

AGENCY PRODUCER :

ANN MAY CHUA

THE BRIEF :

USUALLY DRINKING IN GROUPS, LAGER BEER IS THE DEFAULT CHOICE: AN EASY-TO-DRINK OPTION THAT PLEASES THE WHOLE GROUP. A BRAND REPUTED FOR ITS DISTINCTIVE BOLD FLAVOUR AND DRUNK BY OLDER ‘UNCLES’ SOLITARILY – MANY LAGER DRINKERS HAVE TRIED GUINNESS AND REJECTED IT FOR ITS BITTER, POLARIZING TASTE. EVEN STOUT DRINKERS DIDN’T ORDER GUINNESS WHEN OUT WITH THEIR LAGER-DRINKING FRIENDS. TO TOP THAT, GUINNESS’ PRICE PREMIUM WAS DIFFICULT TO JUSTIFY AS IT DIDN’T FIT THE GROUP DRINKING OCCASION. OUR CHALLENGE: GET GUINNESS INTO THE GROUP DRINKING OCCASION AMONG LAGER BEER DRINKERS, AT TRADITIONAL COFFEESHOPS.

THE STRATEGY :

FOR HABITUAL, STUBBORN LAGER DRINKERS TO ACCEPT GUINNESS, WE NEEDED THEM TO APPRECIATE ITS UNIQUE BOLD FLAVOUR – WHICH REQUIRED MENTORING AND GETTING USED TO. INSTEAD OF ASKING THEM TO REPLACE THEIR LAGER BEER WITH GUINNESS IMMEDIATELY, WE EASED THEM INTO GUINNESS’ BOLD FLAVOUR INSTEAD – BY GETTING THEM TO ADD GUINNESS TO THEIR LAGER, FOR A MORE FLAVOURFUL BEER. FOR THE GROUP, SHARING A GUINNESS AMONGST THEMSELVES MEANT ADDING FLAVOUR TO EVERYBODY’S BEER. WE WENT STRAIGHT TO OUR DRINKERS, TALKING TO THEM IN THEIR FAMILIAR LANGUAGE, IN THE COFFEE SHOPS ITSELF. IDEA: “GUINNESS ADDS FLAVOUR TO YOUR BEER”

THE EXECUTION :

WE GAVE THIS MIXING RITUAL AN INTERESTING BAR-CALL: BEER GĂO. GĂO WAS LOCAL SLANG USED IN COFFEESHOPS TO ORDER ANYTHING FULL-FLAVOURED. COFFEE. TEA. FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT WOULD BE USED TO ORDER A FULL-FLAVOURED BEER. WE ACTIVATED BEER GĂO IN 115 OUTLETS – TWIN GIRLS (ONE GUINNESS, ONE LAGER) INVITED LAGER DRINKERS TO MAKE THEIR BEER GĂO WITH GUINNESS AND INITIATE THE FIRST POUR. INTERRUPTIVE POS ENCOURAGED BAR-CALL AND MUG MARKER STICKERS INDICATED HOW FLAVOURFUL THEY WANTED THEIR BEER TO BE. THIS ENCOURAGED RE-TRIAL AS LAGER DRINKERS EXPERIMENTED WITH AMOUNTS OF GUINNESS TO ACHIEVE THEIR IDEAL FLAVOUR INTENSITY.

THE RESULT :

WE REFRAMED GUINNESS’ POINT OF DIFFERENCE – BOLD FLAVOUR, INTO A POSITIVE: GUINNESS IS THE MOST FLAVOURFUL BEER – BRILLIANT ON ITS OWN, OR ADD TO YOUR LAGER FOR A MORE FLAVOURFUL BEER – BEER GĂO. WHERE THE RITUAL WAS ACTIVATED, WE CONVERTED 55% OF LAGER DRINKERS, SOLD AN AVERAGE OF 3 DAYS’ STOCK IN 1 HOUR, INCREASED OVERALL SALES BY 28% DURING CAMPAIGN PERIOD VS. AVERAGE MONTHLY SALES AND BY 40% AT OUTLETS ACTIVATED IN DECEMBER – ITS HIGHEST IN 3 YEARS.