You'll have to look far and wide to find a current campaign that's as honest as Newcastle's series of ads for it's budding brew. The beer ads were released this past April amid what I think we all believe is a market with a lot of commercial time but little differentiation among ads. I also don't think I'm making any sweeping generalizations when I speculate that most people would rather snort bath salts and dine on face than sit through another stereotypical "cool guy" or "dudes will be dudes" beer commercial.
One impressive aspect of these commercials is how targeted they are. "No Bollocks" is a collection of ads aimed at the audience that "gets it." Newcastle is well aware that there is a thirsty niche of beer junkies who tired of the proud and over-hyped advertising efforts of bigger and flashier brands. The ads poke fun at said big-name brands using an effective combination of parody and humility, sometimes even directly calling out competition.
Cheeky.
Concept is also an important key to take away from this campaign. It was one thing to call other brands out for being stale, but it's another to promote a strong historical heritage at the same time. Newcastle's strategy of complete honesty with its audience is compounded by a strong belief in the importance of one's history.
Newcastle expertly uses the position of honesty to promote historical awareness-- a sort of, "owning your heritage" type deal. Not that this is a particularly tough pill for Newcastle to swallow. Newcastle enjoys a respectable history having been created in England during the Industrial Revolution by the hardworking and diligent "Geordies," a name for those Englishman residing in the Tyneside region of England. This extra effort to pull history into the mix really works to layer the concept in a remarkable way. People quickly discover that the brand isn't just funny, it's intelligent and hardworking. The history behind the brand demands respect and works in much the same way as when your boss does. When your boss tells jokes, you better laugh. If something is funny they've probably been around long enough to learn what it is.
Honestly hilarious.
Finally, Newcastle has been quite the executioner throughout this process. There is nothing particularly special about their placement, as all of the ads occur in places you would expect such as social media, tv, billboards, bar promotionals, etc. Where Newcastle gets it right, however, is in the creative execution of the ads. The items often times play up their surroundings, as seen by the picture below and from the stella artois picture. The ability to poke fun a themselves only makes Newcastle that much more approachable, which is scary for a brand that has already filled you in on their history. It's almost like hanging out with one of your friends at the bar: they're quirky, honest, and there to help you have a good time.
He's so close to that fan he may not want to come down even if he could.
If anything could use some work, I believe that the social media could possibly engage the consumer more. They do a great job coming up with honestly funny things to say, but that's pretty much the extent of the social media plan (to my knowledge). Perhaps Newcastle could engage the consumer more with some bar-sponsored events or some special promotional items. This could hurt their "honest" image if they get too gimmicky, but if used correctly they could have something really awesome. Not that they aren't already awesome. Because let's be honest, nothing beats an honest company making an honest brew. Here's to Newcastle!
