Craft beer is an ecosystem that continues to grow. From what was once a luxury, hidden away for only those chosen travellers to discover, small breweries are cropping up all over the place and are building brands that are taking on the industry giants.
They’re good places to be. You know the scene – wooden benches, tiny warehouses and if you’re lucky, a local food van for some much-needed sustenance.
The craft beer industry is on the up for three reasons…
- It’s often a warmer, more unique social setting than your local chain pub.
- It’s packed full of character, characters and non-conformity.
- They’ve managed to make something brand new and exciting out of the same 4 ingredients beer has been made of for centuries.
Just like beer, we believe all great campaigns are made up of only 4 main ingredients. If you’re looking to brew up a storm, here’s what to chuck in the tun.
Clear message
The key ingredient in any truly successful campaign – a clear message. If people don’t know what you’re communicating, it might not land with everyone who sees it. Getting this bit right is integral, and it should be the first thing you think about before you start throwing other ingredients into the mix.
Purposeful campaigns with clear messages deliver results. Purposeful campaigns without clear messages rarely do the same.
There is an argument for conceptual, crazy campaigns that catch attention. But usually, they’re conducted by brands that already exist in the audience’s consciousness.
If you’re looking to break into that, you’re going to want to build around a message that’s easy to understand, and easy to act on.
Creative concept
Next up, you’re going to need to add a few creative concepts to the mix.
How are you going to communicate a powerful message in a way that busts through our headphone commutes, evening strolls or afternoon scrolls?
Now is your time to tap into the weird, the wonderful and the colourful.
For inspiration, you can always check out our Ideas Everywhere portfolio. We’ve collected some of the world’s leading eye-catching campaigns, some of which you’ll have seen and many of which may have slipped by unnoticed.
Pssst…if you struggle most with this bit, that’s where we can help. Check out what we can do.
Defined audience
It’s all good wanting to appeal to everyone. Of course you want as many people as possible to see the campaign you’ve worked hard to build. However, choosing a select audience that will benefit most from your campaign is what’ll help you win big.
When it comes to choosing an audience, this can be aligned with both the creative and the campaign goal. This reduction of audience size will do two things – reduce the impact on the many, and increase the impact on your selected few.
Example: RayBan making sunglasses for children.
Message: Our sunnies are the coolest.
Audience: Children.
Concept: A child turning up in September, on the first day, with brand new glasses from their holiday. Everyone stops and stares.
Outcome: More kids want, and buy, RayBans.
When combining a targeted message and powerful creativity while hitting a specific audience segment, you’re bound to make an impact.
Desired outcome
Like with the September sunnies, you can hook the attention of your audience and get them listening. But what comes next?
Choosing a desired outcome sounds simple – but it’s something that is often missed in the planning process as people don’t always set out with a goal other than to “sell more of this” or “tell people this.”
Think about these questions before you get knee-deep in campaign planning…
- What do you want your audience to know?
- How do you want your audience to feel?
- What do you want your audience to do?
These are all questions that you’ll need to answer if you want a campaign to succeed.
Start with one of the big outcomes we mentioned and then zoom in and figure out one or two smaller goals which will allow the campaign to be more targeted.
Creative thinking on tap
When you’re looking for a campaign idea that’s going to shake up your industry, you’re going to need to get creative.
We’re no good at making beer – but we’re pretty handy when it comes to thinking up creative comms campaigns.
It’s our round – what’ll it be?