Ingenious indeed!

A marketing challenge is an opportunity to make a buzz

Launching a new product or brand in a market that is ruled by the biggies for a long time could sound an impossible task or a mind-bogglingly expensive affair. Something similar was the challenge for a London-based brewery when it was planning to launch a craft beer brand.

At a point in time when there are numerous well-known beer brands across Europe that have a global rapport, it seemed like an almost impossible task for the independent craft brewery to launch and make a name amongst the big boys. But that is the fun in branding and advertising – to consider a challenge an opportunity to make a buzz. So how was the brewery going to make a mark?

Focus on the integrals of beer and alcohol advertising in general and play on basics. The insight was right there – Ubrew played on the most common advertising slogan that was used by every alcohol brand as a mandatory and named it with similar names.

Picking from the slogan – Drink Responsibly – the brewery named its craft beer ‘Responsibly’ and positioned it as the beer every other beer brand was advising you to drink. Ingenious? Hilarious? Smart? We say it is all of it combined.

By simply playing on the messages printed and advertised across all alcohol bottles and cans, the small brewery gained immense popularity. In a way, it was as if the biggies were advertising on behalf of the brand – and for free. Conceptualised and created by McCann Milan, the brand is so brilliantly designed that it is gaining popularity and recognition for a fraction of what others are bidding on. Usual advertisements ride on media spends, while this is cruising on ingenuity and insight.

The slogan – Drink Responsibly – has been bombarded to consumers for a long time now and never before has someone tried to ride on its affinity and reach. With clever branding and positioning, Ubrew’s low-alcohol beer will be remembered every time someone comes across the common phrase ‘Drink Responsibly’. And with the name and very low alcohol content of 0.5 per cent, the brand is also promoting drinking responsibly and in moderation.

The brand gained popularity by producing a series of reactive communication messages and publishing them on various online and offline channels; for instance, there were videos of thanksgiving to all the brands who were indirectly advertising Ubrew’s ‘Responsibly’ for free. From replying to biggies’ tweets on social media to thanking them through short YouTube clips, the brand created a buzz on social media.

The mic-drop moments were when they advertised on other beer brand’s YouTube videos saying, “We do not want to waste your time advertising our beer, the next video will do it for us.” This is some clever hijacking on competitor’s affinity and leveraging it for one’s own brand.