Episode 132 - Guinness Holding Out for a ZERO Ad Reviewed by CVS Health and Microsoft
Do you ever feel that you need a hero to help you through those times when everyone’s having alcohol and you don’t want to join in?
Guinness have got your back! Their launch of Guinness 0.0 this St. Patrick’s Day features a punny take on Bonnie Tyler’s hit song and some singing pints. Does the ad chosen by Contagious make a clear point, though? And is it messing too much with the “antique of beer”?
Our Advertisers Watching Ads guests Karin Davenport (Lead Director, Lifecycle + Segment Marketing at CVS Health) and Andrea Katsivelis (Global GTM Leader at Microsoft) were not quite sold. They gave this ad 2.5 out of 5 - what do you think?
Episode 132 - Guinness Holding Out for a ZERO Ad Reviewed by CVS Health and Microsoft
Transcript is automatically generated, so not perfect, but you get the idea!
Tom Ollerton 0:00
Hello, and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads.
Tom Ollerton 0:26
My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative and we're brought to you this week, as ever, by our lovely partners, Contagious, who helped source the ad this week. But before we get to that ad, let's meet this week's guests.
Karin Davenport 0:39
Karin Davenport. I am the Director for Lifecycle and Segment Marketing at CVS Health.
Andrea Katsivelis 0:46
And I'll jump and say hello, I'm Andrea Katsivelis at Microsoft, and I'm a Director of Global GTM Strategy.
Tom Ollerton 0:52
So this week's ad comes from Diageo and one of their master brands, Guinness, and it's an absolutely cheeky and fascinating way of advertising their alcohol-free or Guinness 0.0.
Tom Ollerton 1:38
So I'd like you to give this campaign a vote out five, one, two, three... A two and a three. So Andrea, cool, attention grabbing ad, but what's going on outside of this execution we've just seen here?
Andrea Katsivelis 1:52
So Guinness has launched a zero alcohol beer, which was new to me, surprise to me. And so really making that part of their customer base interest and attracting new customers. So wrapping that around St. Paddy's Day, pretty smart, pretty clever. But the launch of the, the zero alcohol option is pretty big deal.
Karin Davenport 2:14
I thought it was really interesting. I think what's tough for me is I, I just struggle with who their target market is for this one. The first time I watched it, I was like, "Wow, this is really interesting." And then what I thought was really powerful about it is it got stuck in my head. Just like the singing and the visuals, I just thought it was a really interesting play on how they can actually promote zero alcohol in a really fun, entertaining way.
Andrea Katsivelis 2:42
First of all, it's very clever, you know, reaching people and getting them connected with different mediums, you know, different offers, and just the visual appeal of causing even someone to say, "What the heck is that?" Because that's what I thought when I actually watched the video is "What is Guinness 0.0?" So I had to actually go look it up after watching the video to learn about it.
Karin Davenport 3:11
Yeah, 'cause there was no call to action on it. So that led me to think it was probably launched as a TV campaign, or I would think like at a sports game on some kind of monitor. I think it's really clever. Because when I think of Guinness, I just think of the foam. Foam... And you would not have to sacrifice that with zero alcohol. So it's interesting, they played on the foam piece of it versus I think more of the beer itself.
Andrea Katsivelis 3:41
I loved the aspect of you know, make a St. Patrick's Day to remember, right? You're not blitzed out drunk. And so, and you know, enjoy Guinness the way you might... normally wouldn't. And maybe it's for people who aren't drinking as much anymore but you know, would like to either at the pub or you know, at home be able to enjoy it, or people who are, you know, health conscious.
Karin Davenport 4:04
I think still I struggle a bit with who the target market is. I think it's like, if we're thinking about non-drinkers, and it's maybe more of a social play. Is the age group folks like myself? I don't know, or are they trying to go after the younger audiences who are partying on St. Patrick's Day? Or maybe, "Oh, it's interesting." I, I need to go deeper into like, the social components of it to see who it is they're really trying to target because I would think it would, was probably very defined.
Andrea Katsivelis 4:38
Maybe the gap is, was also very deliberate, right? Because is it... Could it be meme worthy, right? With the animation, the, the singing foam, and then, you know, attracting a younger audience who might want to, you know, make their own versions of that, or, you know, at the same time with the, the music choice can appeal to multiple generations from a customer base. So...
Karin Davenport 5:05
Die hard Guinness fans are like committed. And it's been an experience for decades. You go into a pub, you sip on Guinness, and you hang out for many, many, many hours. I think what the zero alcohol version does is it brings this element of like youth and partying into it, which was interesting, as well. So that's why I still am struggling, like, "Who, who is this person who's going to sit down and, and drink Guinness in this way that it's teed up?" Right? My association with Guinness is so different than how it's presented in, in this ad and the zero alcohol version.
Andrea Katsivelis 5:46
You know, I drink Coke Zero, I drink Pepsi Zero, why shouldn't there be a Guinness Zero? So, you know, it is sort of a little on trend of saying, "Hey, there's a Guinness Zero." And, you know, it's not just soft drink products that are offering it but I do wonder, is there some broader topic going on in the UK, like some, some issue or conversation that's either being had in social media or in the news that might have prompted it, like pre-St. Patrick's Day.
Tom Ollerton 6:15
Being the UK person, I definitely didn't see any of that. The heartland of Guinness is that, is that sort of emotional truth conversation, you know, it's not a bottle of Corona with a, with a lime in the top while you're on a beach getting hammered. It's like, you know, "Come on uncle, granddad, partner, you know, sister..." Whatever, it's like, you know, "We're gonna sit in the corner and drink Guinness and that means we're talking about something serious."
Karin Davenport 6:38
It's about the connection, not the, not in the conversation, not about the partying. And I think when I watched that ad, my initial thought was, "Wow, this really isn't about Guinness, right?" Because Guinness is so, it's like the antique of beer. Like, it's like everybody knows it. It's meaningful... People connect around a Guinness. And when I saw that ad, it just seemed very overwhelming. And everyone kind of screaming and raging around it, which I... I don't know, maybe that's the St. Patrick's Day piece of like, you're removing the, the noise. I don't know.
Tom Ollerton 7:17
Andrea, what would you have done differently?
Andrea Katsivelis 7:19
First of all, would have recognized or identified who the target audience is. Clarified it a little bit, like in the, in the video, in the ad to make sure that, like, "Who's this resonating for?" Because there is a dichotomy between the you know, social meme singing animation, and the, you know, song from the 80s. Although lots of 80s very popular today, right? Everything's coming back, but at the same time, like from a marketing perspective, I, you know, yes, it's sort of typical, but I would have thought that to round it out to have something that says zero calorie, same great taste, same foam, you know, the same experience. That to me would have rounded it out to, you know, to solidify, you know, give it a shot. Here's what we're talking about.
Tom Ollerton 8:16
Would you have signed off this campaign in its current iteration? Yes or no? One, two, three... Nice. Thank you. Guinness. I liked it. I thought it was quite good fun. But the panel is less convinced. We'll see what happens next year on St. Patrick's Day. So thank you so much for your time.
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