Advertising The Beer Way

I was browsing through youtube and stumbled across a fantastic beer advertisement. My interest and enthusiasm grew to higher levels as I searched for more and more of beer advertisements only to be surprised to find out that each advertisement was unique and better than the previous one. It was hard not to enjoy them. What I found that beer was strongly associated with sports. But as I saw more of it, I found it had venues beyond sports. The bottom line of beer advertising promises good times; great parties, travel, festivals, notorious pranks and generally being able to escape from your daily life into world of fun, travel and festivities.  We often talk about consistency in the communication to create a strong and long lasting impact on the viewer. But with beer campaigns that seem to change almost monthly and tag lines that rarely last for more than a football season. The advertisements might seem entertaining but are strategic as well. Here are a few advertisement I liked along with their corresponding marketing strategy that did yield for me surprising lessons..

1. Give yourself a good name (Heineken)

The Europeans are always known to promote their products with a sense that they are more upscale and respectable either you go to a bar or a ball. The ad shows a guy making bold decision (drinking beer with the scary bosses’ daughter) and congratulating him on the choice. It reinforces the message that what beer you choose says something important about who you are, so choose well.

2. The Patriotic Beer (Fosters)

The Australians have a thing for Beer and there is no denying it. This advertisement seems to be a video on Australia that shows Australian lifestyle; things that Australians do, that Australians are good at, the wars, the kangaroo, wrestling with crocodiles, etc. As the lines go irresistible they end with “Australians brew the best beer on Earth” showing freshly brewed Fosters Beer. With a patriotic theme and a sense of pride, the advertisement must have got the Australians off the hook. (Offcourse this Ad was meant for Australia and not other countries.)

3. The Bud Light Bump (Bud Light)

Now this brand does it all, and does it all whit humour. Sorry I couldn’t shortlist one ad campaign by Bud Light because each one of it as good as the other. They use anyone.. dogs, cats, tigers, ferrets; and they do it anywhere.. House, party, office, stadium. They simply forget about the product features and focus on the simple message that one will do almost anything for beer… Bud beer. The strategy which seems buried in most of their ads is the unwavering loyalty that the guys in their ads have for Bud Light. They will build houses out of it, jump out of planes, and even walk around naked for a day just to get more of it. Neither the name of the beer is entirely unforgettable, but also the ads stand out for being entertaining.

4. Be Unique Be Guinness

A popular ad for Guinness beer features the concept of sharing beer with your friends in a naughty way. It’s a wonderful commercial which shows a bottle of Guinness beer kept over a rocking naked chick (well not completely) and yeah you get the rest of the picture. As they say “sex sells”, the commercial sets the beer apart more than anything else. The commercial is for people who love nothing more than celebrating life with  a friend or two and this is exactly what beer can do with.

5. The Big Ad (Carlton Draught)

Probably the best one I ever came across. I would like to call this as “Honest Advertising”. Using Old Spice theme in a beer ad and adding subtitles so that no word goes unheard, the advertisement speaks for itself and its motive. It’s a big ad, it's so freaking huge. It's expensive and this ad better sell some beer. Nothing can better explain the motive behind an ad in any better way than this one.