In a saturated advertising and consumer market, brands are constantly battling against each other for airspace. So what’s the best way to stand out through digital channels? One beer brand has proved itself with the ‘experience’ route… 

First, appeal to your ‘fans’, the consumers you already have.

Secondly, reward them by inspiring them to act in the favour of your brand.

One such brand that has done brilliantly at both is Tooheys – an Australian beer brand that was last night crowned as ‘Best in Show’ for its ‘Six Beers of Separation’ campaign.

Here’s a video of the initial campaign:

 

Aussie agency Lion Nathan and ZenithOptimedia created a campaign that saw four Tooheys fans travel across the world to find how they are connected to their idols…with six beers.

The project included a number of TV episodes that aired on pay-TV channel Foxtel and online. Digital, print, FTA TV and cinema activity also supported the long form ads.

The episodes showed participants travelling more than 150,000km between them, across three continents. The brand gave each of the four $12,000 and 18 days to find their idol.

six-beersThere’s a micro site here if you’re interested in the journey  and a dedicated YouTube channel here.

Mark Uncles, professor of marketing and judge at the 2010 IAB Australia Awards, said, “If there was ever any doubt, digital and interactive advertising truly has come of age. Many of Australia’s biggest mainstream advertisers have had text book success using online to excellent effect.

“Key to this coming of age, are campaigns that engage consumers in the longer term. This is essential if advertising is to build brands and not simply secure immediate promotional benefits.” 

The Tooheys campaign makes use of multiple platforms to deliver a insightful and witty messages that build significantly Tooheys Extra Dry as a strong brand.

The campaign is reminiscent of another Aussie campaign, The Best Job in the World. However, where the ‘Best Job’ campaign succeeded was on the global stage.

A simple YouTube competition catapulted the northern Australian state of Queensland onto the world map and it will certainly be a while before anyone forget the media frenzy it caused. Out of the campaign, the Queensland brand managed a true brand advocate (who is now actually employed as Queensland Tourism’s Ambassador and is travelling all over the world).

That goes to prove that advertising and a lot of money can buy you promotions…but there is more to it than that.

These campaigns both play on the ‘experience’. It shows the audience its consumers having a fantastic experience with their brand. That experience is so great they blog about, they talk about, the even put it on video and that is what resonates with consumers in this age of social media and ‘recommendations’.

These campaigns have won out (‘Best Job’ won a few Cannes Lion’s awards!)because of their innovative use of a number of different digital channels to build an experience and total immersion of the brand.

Yes, digital has come of age, so has marketers’ use of it. The opportunities are endless and I hope these examples give you inspiration. There’s also a great case study at mcn.com.au. Click here to watch it.