We at eskimosoup offer top-notch marketing solutions, design, websites, events, copywriting and business strategies, but we still learn things along the way thanks to the projects we manage and the clients we work with. Time to Change Hull is an excellent example.
Communicating the message that 1 in 4 of us will experience mental health problems in our lifetimes, this NHS Hull campaign encourages people to know the facts, to support their friends, family and coworkers, and perhaps most importantly, to talk about the subject openly and free of social taboo.
We're currently having videos produced that look at mental health in different ways. One that's available to watch now is an interview with Pete Haslam, a local writer and radio presenter, who shares his experiences of mental health problems and explains the actions he's taken in order to still enjoy his life. Meanwhile, 'The Pub Chat' has a humorous script written by eskimosoup's Rich Sutherland, which sees two everyday Hull blokes demonstrating how a simple conversation can achieve more than you may think.
We want to get as many views as possible in order to spread this valuable message, so please do view, like, share, post and/or tweet if you get a spare few minutes.
Once you've done that, perhaps you could also take a moment to think about whether someone you know might benefit from a chat over a coffee or a pint. Even a phone call, email or text message can make a huge difference to a person's life, it's being there for them that matters.
Stella Artois has a
rich advertising history, having produced some of the most memorable campaigns
in recent years. However, negative connotations with the brand in 2007 led to a
complete reform in communications targeted towards UK consumers. The turnaround
was impressive and has resulted in a brand image that can only be described as
‘très sophistiquè’ (my attempt at French).
From 1982-2007, all
Stella Artois communications within the UK centred on the slogan ‘Reassuringly
Expensive’ – a campaign produced by Frank Lowe. This in itself was an extremely
bold and clever campaign, choosing to turn a substantial negative (a higher
price due to the greater duty on high-alcohol beverages in the UK) into a
positive, by assuring customers that the higher price represented greater
‘quality’ than cheaper alternatives.
Early
communications were primarily print ads, but in 1990 a chance viewing of Jean
de Florette (a French historical
drama) led one of Lowe's creative directors to pen a script based on a
similar concept. The resulting television and cinema advertisement, Jacques de Florette,
proved immensely popular and formed the basis for a series of award-winning
adverts produced between 1991 and 2001, including Good Samaritan,
Last Orders
and Returning Hero.
These ads were extremely popular due to
their successful fusion of humour and beautifully shot imagery and remain
extremely influential today.
Despite the long
running success of the ‘Reassuringly Expensive’ campaign, Stella Artois’ image
started to drastically change in the eyes of British consumers. Due to its
higher alcohol content, Stella Artois developed a reputation for making its
drinkers aggressive. This, coupled with the brand’s popularity amongst football
hooligans and binge-drinkers, meant that violence soon became associated with
the brand, eventually earning Stella Artois the unwanted nickname of
‘Wife-Beater’. This was of course extremely detrimental to the brand and
highlighted the necessity for Stella Artois to produce a campaign which would
remove these negative associations.
The brand’s initial
response was to drop the word ‘Stella’ (the UK’s adopted slang term for the
lager) from its communications and remove the slogan ‘Reassuringly Expensive’.
In 2008 the brand then chose to release a campaign aimed at informing customers
that only four ingredients were used to make the lager. However, this did
fairly little to remove the negative stereotype associated with the product.
As a result, the
‘She is a thing of beauty’ campaign was produced, which helped reposition the
brand as cool, elegant, and sophisticated – a far cry from anything associated
with angry drinkers and wife-beating. The first set of TV ads focused on the Stella
Artois chalice, something which now personifies the brand ethos. Throughout the
campaign, the importance of preparation was highlighted, with the nine-step pouring
ritual being likened to a beautiful woman getting ready before an evening out.
As new products
were launched within the Stella brand, a similarly elegant, sophisticated
styled advertising strategy was used, helping to sustain this new found ‘chic’
personality. This is demonstrated no more so than in the ads for Stella Artois
4% which have firmly established the brand as being too-cool-for-school. These
ads all generally follow the same story – everyday guy (although he is always
ruggedly handsome) is ‘filtered’ three times, each time becoming more suave,
debonair and cool. However, it is the way in which these ads are created which
has made them irresistible to the audience. The sixties aesthetic provides the
visually stunning, ultra-sophisticated theme (which works extremely well both
on TV / Cinema spots and Outdoor) whilst the lavish locations and excessively
attractive leads serve to keep the audience interested. Finally, this is topped
off by the sexy French voiceover which delivers the metaphoric tagline ‘Triple
Filtered with a Smooth Outcome’.
More recent Stella
Artois products have also adopted the overarching brand’s smooth and
sophisticated personality. Firstly, the campaign for Stella Artois Cidre once
again utilised a sixties feel, this time presenting the ultra cool Le Président
cheekily explaining to British consumers that it is not Cider, it is Cidre.
These ads are again extremely strong visually, carrying forward the now well
established tradition of Stella Artois communications.
Another of the
brand’s new products, Stella Artois Black, has taken the idea of strong visuals
one step further by staging a number of live role-play events, the latest being
‘Black Diamond’ – a live version of a classic film noir movie set in sixties
Paris, engaging attendees by making them part of the story
It can be safely
assumed that despite very few negative stereotypes ever fully disappearing, the
recent campaigns by Stella Artois have proved how influential well-thought out
communications can be in altering public opinion.
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