Lowe Tesch has created a new campaign (h/t marktd - Piers Fawkes) for Stella Artois that has a really cool digital ad component. The creative team at Lowe Tesch went to Prague to study bartenders making the perfect pour of Stella Artois. I along with probably many others, upon reading this, thought; "oh yea, another client funded agency boondoggle - going to Prague to study the pouring habits of bartenders... give me a break!" But that's exactly what they did (could you imagine pitching this concept to most clients???). And the results are nothing short of spectacular. Natalie Balakivera brand manager at Stella Artois had this to say about the effort:
”In a world where consumers are getting ever more difficult to reach, we believe that our advertising has to have enough confidence to invite consumers to interact with our brand, to create their own experience,” said Natalia Balakireva, Brand Manager for Stella Artois at InBev. ”This strategy gives us the necessary relevance and inherent qualities for the target audience to actively pursue the world of Stella Artois.
I'm not sure anybody including Natalia knows exactly what the last sentence means (how does one actively "pursue" the world of Stella Artois?). But I do know this, that after playing with the ad for 20 minutes and pouring many virtual Stella's, I was thirsty, and I really wanted a beer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to leave my wife and kids in pursuit of the world of Stella Artois. But next time I'm in a pub, and the bartender is pouring Stella, I'll give one a try.
You can view the ad here.
As a contrast to this effort, recall Martin Agency's Sponge Monkey TV spots for Quiznos (make sure to read the comments) which generated an enormous amount of internet buzz. The buzz was generated by warring factions composed of Quizno's customers who were nauseated by the spots and others who loved the nasty looking buck-tooth-rat-like creatures (but apparently didn't eat at Quizno's). This from a Quiznos' spokesman:
Martin (agency) says it's too early to tell how successful the ads have been in terms of sub sales, but the buzz has been loud.... Spong monkeys may have nothing to do with sub sandwiches (but then polar bears have nothing to do with Coca Cola, either), and they may look a bit disgusting to some folks, but they're becoming stars. "They've generated lots of water-cooler conversation, and that kind of talk value puts us on consumers' radar," Lange says.
My daughter who is a sub sandwich fanatic loved the spots but stopped eating at Quiznos. She seemed to develop a whole lot of brand loyalty for Subway. I simply can't eat at Quiznos without thinking I'm biting into rat.
So, which effort is better? Stella Artois or Quiznos? Both generate buzz. But I have a feeling that the folks at Stella Artois will be much happier with the results of their effort.
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