Launching another competitor in the fiercely contested premium beer category into the local market and breaking through the legion of messages consumers are bombarded with daily, needed an innovative approach when South African Breweries launched premium Italian beer, Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Brand Activation (an Ogilvy company) developed a lateral campaign designed to bridge the noise currents and effectively reach its Gauteng test market.
The launch this month of Peroni Nastro Azzurro by SAB, is part of its global rollout of the brand, following the recent complete acquisition of Birra Peroni breweries by its parent SABMiller plc.
"This is the first time that marketing a beer has been approached from such a vastly non-traditional perspective," says Brand Activation managing director Howard Smiedt. "We are introducing the brand in a similar fashion as a Milan designer would launch a new season - Peroni is a label, a desirable lifestyle measure. When you drink a Peroni, the heritage of
Italian style and sophistication is present in every sip."
Explains SAB Limited marketing director Peter McLoughlin: "This is not just another beer launch. To bring it to life we have chosen activities that are different to anything that have been done by a beer before. We want to bring a new dimension to traditional beer thinking. The solution to this embodies
the idea of Peroni Nastro Azzurro as the quintessential Italian beer and Italy as the style capital of the world."
The thinking behind the campaign, Italian Style in a Bottle, saw the message communicated through a billboard teaser series, strategically placed radio moments and a physical installation. In Hyde Park mall a Peroni storefront adaptation of the UK high street Peroni store was installed two weeks prior to the official launch, followed by an Italian styled cocktail and fashion event this week, also in Hyde Park.
Following the launch, Brand Activation have created a series of on-the-ground and retail activations designed to further embrace the message of Italian style, sophistication and heritage. "Non traditional experiential marketing is proving to be more and more popular worldwide," says Smiedt. "In beer marketing particularly, consumers will never have interacted with this category in this way."
SAB Limited have also engaged the services of Marcus Brewster Publicity to ensure high impact PR and Publicity extraction for the brand.
