Heineken

On the subject of 'Swinging London' in the last blog, I came across a global viral marketing + advertising agency called Go Viral, who have an office just outside Camden. 'Viral' is the buzzword that describes all activity that creates awareness around a product/brand through messages. The message is spread by word of mouth or these days by the glorious powers of social networking.

It was on their website, that sparked todays interest in one of my favorite beers - Heineken (...due to all my time spent in Holland). If you are not a fan of the following: Britains Got Talent; Dancing on Ice; X-Factor and how each new series sweeps the nations, you will appreciate Go Virals Heineken ad, 'Men With Talent'. It's truely wonderful! Heineken have put a lot of time and money into their advertising with many including some big Hollywood stars. Here are some other amusing ad's including Zoolander, the walk in fridge, Brad Pitt & Enter the world of Bond. The Bond ad is great + wonderfully put together. Starting out like a normal advert, it soon changes after buying a six pack of Heineken, slipping into the world of the famous secret agenct. The lighting changes, along with the camera angles + camera shots so it really does give off Bond-like vibes. Think about all the effort the creatives + copywriters, have put into the Heineken brand over the years. Next time you're at the bar, order a tall glass of that wonderful beer...but as the ad says, make sure it's not shaken!

What to drink?

With so much choice out there, I'm just getting confused as to what to drink!? I usually drink 1 of 4 things: water; beer; tea; and orange juice. Now imagine the choice of brands for each product. That must show the massive influence advertising has on todays generation as to what to consume! Advertising and marketing has such a ma-hoosive influence on what we drink and to end up creating ad's on such a large creative budget would be awesome!

It's not so much about the product these days (unless your innocent smoothies) but it's about the image you portray. Drench seem to have a good strategy to get people drinking their water as opposed to any other H2O with the youtube hit: Dancing Brains from Thunderbirds & the Hampster Band!

Another awesome campaign was the Lambrini. Aimed at a target demographic (female 18-30) it again didn't offer a quality product (lets face it, it's cheap+doesn't taste tgreat) but the image. It was successful as it drew in a wider following. Even I attempted to learn the routine! It does offer a feel good factor and gives you that 'i just wanna dance' feeling.

The alcohol industry however can get nasty, not so much in the UK but in the USA, beer giants Miller and Bud went head to head in the 'Great Beer Wars'. Their advertisment doubted each others patriotim through TV ads. I have always been a coors light drinker (since it's less calories) and ended up knocking up an ad. Sent it off to Coors and they gave me some pretty good feedback, just hope this doesn't cause offence to drunk ex girlfriends around the world! The creative team at bud light have come up with some gems - take a look at my top 3: Appology Bot 3000; Coffee Cup; Swear Jar.