Drinking beer’s always a good choice. And in a world of many beer choices, especially in the value brand category, Carling reckons that choosing to drink its brew is a pretty great beer decision. In that spirit, it launched a promotional effort last month featuring other great beer decisions brainstormed by Carling drinkers (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) throughout history.
The campaign, which was developed by Taxi Toronto, was born from the brand’s heritage. The thinking goes that when Thomas Carling first decided to create his beer in 1840, making a product of good quality for a good price was a fantastic decision. In fact, Taxi felt that it was really the first great beer decision. And so, Carling himself is featured saying as much in a radio spot.
‘Our strategy was simple,’ says Aaron Bilyea, brand manager, value and regional portfolio at Molson. ‘Why make a guy feel cheap when you can make him feel smart?’
‘We wanted to position ourselves as not just a price-driven brand, but one that really stands behind its credentials as a liquid,’ explains Darren Clarke, executive CD at Taxi Toronto.
On top of radio, the creative includes in-case postcards, newspaper ads and ten videos playing on a microsite at Carlingbeer.ca and on YouTube that tell the stories of other great beer decisions. Among them are the inventions of the beer helmet, the belt buckle bottle opener, beer after a move and cooking meat with beer.
Carling drinkers are also invited by the in-case postcards to submit their own great beer decisions to the website for the chance to win an ATV. The seasonal campaign will run until midway through September.
The creds:
advertiser: Molson Canada
agency: Taxi Toronto
executive CD: Darren Clarke
CD: Peter Gomes
associate CDs: Nathan Monteith, Stefan Wegner
ADs: Nathan Monteith, Michael Siegers, Peter Gomes, Charlyn Wee
writers: Rene Bhavnani, Jono Holmes, Stefan Wegner
photographer: Stefan Wegner
designers: David Taylor, Nathan Monteith, Michael Siegers, John Thai
agency producers: Kevin Saffer, Jennifer Cursio, Estella Tolentino, Tara Greguric, Jennifer Law
prodco: Pixel Pusher/Taxi
directors: Nathan Monteith, Stefan Wegner, Peter Gomes
audio post/music house: Pirate Radio/Taxi
