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Strongbow ad to premiere on YouTube prior to TV push

by Joanne Payne, Brand Republic 16-Mar-07, 14:15

LONDON - Strongbow, the cider brand owned by brewery Scottish & Newcastle, is launching its latest ad, created by roster agency St Luke's, on YouTube.

The 30-second ad, entitled "a-a-a-h-h", breaks online on March 19 a week before it launches on TV.

It depicts three men ordering two pints of lager and a pint of Strongbow. Once the drinks have been poured, the lager drinkers sip and exhale with a satisfactory "Aaahh". The Strongbow drinker takes his sip last but spends the rest of the 30-second ad exhaling. He ignores the football game and even a charity collector rattling her tin.

The ad ends with the Strongbow drinker returning to the real world and buying some crisps from the bar, unaware that anything has happened in between the group's arrival and the present. The tagline reads: "Total first pint refreshment".

By breaking the ad on the web, Scottish & Newcastle hopes to start conversations online and on forums with the humour of the video sparking the public to create their own response versions of the ads and upload them to video-sharing sites such as YouTube.

Stephen Mosey, marketing manager of ciders at Scottish & Newcastle UK, said: "The new proposition for the advertising campaign focuses on first pint refreshment. Through research we found that our target consumers seek out their first pint of the night they are invariably looking for a drink that will quench their thirst."

This new creative forms part of a £27m marketing investment programme that Scottish & Newcastle UK is putting behind the Strongbow brand during 2007.

Comments

Fraser DALGLISH - 18/03/2007

Pushin the boundries of the crap that these big london creatives chuck out 'quality work'.....save your money on the research...u either drink cider...or u dont......fact........so when I tell u that evryone in oor office fell about laffin at that quote....u'll be able to gauge just how accurate it was.....not.......for God sake get some decent creative......score out of 10......-0..sorry

DUNCAN PRINGLE - 19/03/2007

Why oh why will anyone be watching thbis on Youtube? Most are interested in uploading their own material or looking at stuff they like. They avoiid ads how or why will this work???

Matthew Finch - 19/03/2007

A great way to reach the target market of users who are increasingly using the internet more and watching TV less. Whether it will generate any additional benefit is debatable, time will only tell, but the fact that 6 people have already left comments on YouTube shows at least it does engage advocates of the brand.