Caffrey’s has shifted the focus of its advertising from New York to Cuba
as part of a new pounds 8 million campaign that will run over the next
12 months.
The commercial, through WCRS, is the first since the brand launched last
May with an execution showing a young Irishman finding a quiet corner of
the Big Apple to enjoy his pint and reminisce about home. The new ad
keeps the same idea, but this time switches the action to carnival time
in Cuba.
The film opens with shots of a young traveller wandering through
bustling streets full of scantily clad revellers and seedy onlookers.
However, he is soon stopped in his tracks by a glimpse of a man on a
bike who reminds him of his father.
The film then goes into flashback - as it did in the first spot -
revealing memories of the young man’s native Ireland, where he practised
boxing with his dad.
The ad ends back in Cuba as he realises that the man on the bike is, in
fact, a total stranger. Driven by the vividness of the memories, he
seeks out a bar selling Caffrey’s and savours the moment.
The campaign broke in the cinema last week and debuts on 24 October on
national TV. It was written by Jon-athan Burley, art directed by Ian
Williamson and directed by Jonathan Glazer of Academy Commercials, who
directed the first ad.
The pounds 8 million budget represents an enormous vote of confidence in
Caffrey’s by Bass, which spent just pounds 2.8 million on the brand last
year. The increase is understood to be part of a drive to capitalise on
the beer’s early popularity. WCRS says the brand is already worth pounds
300 million in annual retail sales.
Dan Vivian, the account director at WCRS on Bass Ales, said that the
decision to change the backdrop of the campaign had been taken to keep
the ads fresh.
He added: ‘We could have been conservative because the New York ad was
so successful, but we took this approach because we wanted to keep an
element of challenge in the work.’
