boozenews.ca

By Paul Mitchell



One of the newer campaigns Molson-Coors is running is for their Rickard's Red beer. The ads feature a patron asking a bartender for something different, apparently he is tired of having the same, uninspired "macro brews" that all taste alike. As the bartender recommends a Rickard's as being "full of flavour", three other patrons at the bar start to explain (with some attempt at humour) how the beer is incredible. As ubiquitous as the ads are, do they really represent the brand?

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Breaking News:



Vancouver is the first Canadian city to have vodka named after it in Absolut vodka's "Cities" campaign.
The city-themed bottle serires includes New Orleans (2007), Los Angeles (2008) and Boston (2009).
The new bottle is designed to embody Vancouver and support the local arts community, said Stan Olthuis of Sharpshooter Creative in Toronto.
Olthuis worked with Corby Distilleries, Absolut's Canadian distributor, advertising agency B Street Communications and Harbinger Communications to choose Vancouver illustrator and graphic artist Douglas Fraser to design a limited-edition bottle that shows what it means to live, work and play in Vancouver.
The design shows a yellow and blue sea plane soaring above Vancouver's skyline encased in a 'V' symbol.
"Vancouver was a natural choice for Absolut's next city-themed bottle," said Kelly Kretz, Corby's senior brand manager for Absolut vodka, in a release. "In addition to being globally recognized as an exciting, cosmopolitan and naturally stunning Canadian city, Vancouver is a hotbed of cultural and creative talent."
Corby Distilleries will donate up to $120,000 from the sale of the bottles towards a new Vancouver arts project.
Local artists can apply at AbsolutVancouver.ca and describe how they would support Vancouver art. Vancouverites are invited to vote for their favourite proposal, with the winning idea announced in 2010.

Source: Marketing Magazine

By Paul Mitchell



Disaronno Amaretto is a really good drink. Let us immediately get that issue out of the way. The Italian almond-flavoured liqueur is a mainstay of most bars and is an essential component of several great drinks, including the lesser-valued "Alabamma Slammer" that takes people back to university days of binge drinking. For years, Disaronno had been running a compaign entitled "Pass the Pleasure Around" that featured print and television commercials with obnoxious individuals trying to look cool and seductive while preparing cocktails with the drink. They also advocated drinking it on the rocks. Widely regarded in some circles as one of the most annoying commercial series, the ads have thankfully been replaced with a new campaign called "As You Like It." With a tip of the hat to William Shakespeare, the new advertisements (and campaign website) are closer to the mark, focusing on the practical flavours of amaretto and uses in classical mixology. Are the ads any less annoying however? Critics are divided. Read more....

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By Paul Mitchell



I have been reviewing a product campaign that is currently running on television for 1800 Tequila. There are two commercials in total (running in the United States and at the product's website), and the spot I have seen features Michael Imperioli, the swarthy actor who played Christopher Moltisanti on the Sopranos, extolling how great this new tequila is. The topic of celebrity endorsements has been discussed on this site before -- and it is understandable why a product would want to connect itself with the popularity of the Sopranos show -- but that is not what is intriguing about the advertisement. The entire spot's focus is on how the lid of the bottle can be used as a shot glass. Innovative? Not really. Interesting? Perhaps. It does, however, underscore the importance of advertising in general: that the message should be about the benefits of the product (ie. taste) and not the gimmicks.

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By A. Paul Mitchell



In years gone by, athletes could get away with a harder living lifestyle of boozing and womanizing. Professional hockey and football players still enjoy a priviledged lifestyle full of decadence like most men can never hope to emmulate, but having a sterile clean public persona has become vital to securing lucrative sponsorship deals. Furthermore, that sort of lifestyle -- while it does still exist to a certain degree -- is simply not tolerated by society any more. Discussions of self-destructive behaviour versus morality and decency aside (what would happen if Theoren Fleury and Michael Irvin had partied together?), alcohol and professional sports have underone a dramatic change in their relationship to each other. So how and why has there been such a role reversal with regard to alcohol marketing, and sports sponsorships?

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By Paul Mitchell


The winning taste in beer for the summer of 2009 has been one of lime -- light lime in particular. Eschewing traditional methods of pushing a new product on the typical 19-30 male audience with macho imagery, Bud Light Lime has become a huge hit with Canadians looking for crisp, refreshing flavours suitable in hot summer temperatures. The popularity has become somewhat omni-present and the related marketing blitz is the direct result of demand from customers themselves thanks to the rise of social networking sites like Facebook.

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By Paul Mitchell


Advertisements for the new Cracked Canoe ultra-light beer from Moosehead Breweries have begun to appear on television and in print. Designed for an older demongraphic with more mature palates and apparently more time to appreciate a "the slow brewing process", Cracked Canoe is 3.5% abv lager with less than 100 calories. Moosehead does not rush into the latest trends and has slowly built on their good reputation to become one of the largest independent brewers in Canada. They are proud of their Maritime heritage and have only started to produce national television ads within the last few years. It is surprising therefore that they have introduced a new brand at a time when specialization is seen as a priority. More surprisingly however is the idea of introducing a light beer. What is the point of light beer after all?

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By: Paul Mitchell



In the world of marketing, one of the mainstream practices is to use celebrities to help sell your products. There have been some incredible successes (such as Michael Jordon or Tiger Woods with Nike) as well as a few notable failures (the Olsen twins advocating the health benefits of milk). Beer makers, along with other beverage companies, are no different in their interest to utilize this particular channel. Recently, Innis & Gunn, a Scottish brewery of barrel-aged beers, recently announced their agreement with Gordon Ramsay, notable celebrity chef and loyal Scotsman. Will this partnership yield the success that the brewery hopes? Only time will tell. However, if experience and the theoretical dynamics of celebrity endsorsements hold true, then the inevitable results should be considerably more predictable.

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By Paul Mitchell



“Keep the Good Times Going”
www.budlight.ca • www.budlight.com

Beer companies, by and large, have huge budgets for advertising and public relations activities. So why do they generally do such a bad job with it? Overproduced, high-budget commercials with celebrity endorsements seem like a formula for success but there really isn’t any proven connection that they result in new customers and more sales. If generic, mass produced beer all tastes the same, something has to differentiate the product from all its competitors. Even the 19 to 24-year-old target market to whom “Secret Mansions” and “Blind Dates” are supposed to entice realize that it is not what decides their beer loyalty. So then what does? Interesting topic, but one thing for certain, the Budd Light Guy campaign is not going to...

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By Paul Mitchell


Rum has continued to be one of the more popular spirits on the planet and one of its most famous brands is Captain Morgan. The wild-eyed pirate logo, light-hearted and fun commercials, and lively on-site promotional events have helped to build sales with a younger crowd. The brand has typically balanced their fun-loving campaigns with commercials that express the need for responsibility. However, for the Christmas season in 2008, Captain Morgan’s “Holiday Miracle” campaign has focused on the fascination of small occurrences that leads the viewer to only associate the brand with over-consumption, a somewhat ill-serving result.

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