New Ad Campaign Brings Major ‘Push’ For Strongbow
Thursday, April 26th 2012
Strongbow, the UK’s biggest selling cider, is set to unveil a new multi-million pound advertising campaign which extols the brand as a reward for men who ”get the job done.” Created by St Luke’s with media planning and buying through MediaVest, the campaign will launch with a 60-second TV execution entitled ‘Push It’, which airs nationally on April 30.
The new creative strategy introduces a new end line, ‘Strongbow. Earn It’ to communicate the core idea that men can draw pride and satisfaction seeing a job through to completion and the goal of being rewarded with a pint of Strongbow to help pull them through.
‘Push It’ pays homage to the ‘Brit Flick’ gangster genre and the commercial is strongly reminiscent of a trailer for a feature film. The ad opens on three young, smartly dressed men stood in the remote countryside on a hot summer’s day, stood around a broken down van.
One of the men is on his mobile phone explaining their predicament to a sharp-suited older man who makes it clear that he is not interested in their misfortune with the sarcastic response “Do you think I’m ‘Dear Deidre’?” The trio are unhelpfully advised to push the van for the last 3 miles to their hotel destination which they achieve through a combination of determination, perspiration and smart- thinking.
The ad moves to the inside of a marquee where it becomes apparent that the men are members of a wedding band and the irate man who callously dismissed their “sob stories” is, in fact, the father of the bride. The ad cuts to the exhausted- looking band who, after completing their performance, gratefully lift their pints of Strongbow to their lips to take deep satisfied sips.
The end frame shows a glistening pint of Strongbow and the iconic arrows thudding into the bar counter throwing up an arc of golden droplets, underscored by the strap line, Strongbow. Earn It.
Lucy Henderson, Brand Manager – Strongbow at HEINEKEN said, “We have evolved the campaign this year from a 'Strongbow Hard Earned' message to a more universal territory of 'Earn It'. The 'Push it', the execution takes Strongbow into a younger, more aspirational territory, while still ensuring that the brand stays true to its humorous personality.”
Neil Henderson, Managing Director, St. Lukes said: “With the reward theme firmly established for Strongbow, we have now developed the campaign for a wider audience. This is the next in a series of epic Strongbow ads with a great cast of characters, great music and all the entertainment value of a classic caper movie.”
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