In a attempt to raise brand awareness among its target market – the young professional male trying to look cool – beer brand Rickard’s is rolling out phase two of a social media advertising campaign called “Rules of the Round.”
The campaign includes a series of online videos that play out situations young men might find themselves in at a pub, from picking up women to having a drink with the boss. It offers advice or “rules” on how they should act – especially when it’s their turn to buy the next round.
The videos, which can be found on YouTube in English and French and on Rickard’s Facebook page, feature simply animated figurines and, in the case of the English-language work, a British narrator. Rickard’s also skipped the high energy tunes found in typical beer ads, opting for music more fit for high tea.
It’s a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek attempt to connect with men in Rickard’s 24-to-35-year-old target market, helping them “look cool in awkward situations at the pub,” said Jodi Jahnke, assistant marketing manager at Rickard’s, a division of Molson Coors.
“Rickard’s was a brand born in the pub in 1984, so we felt that we had a certain authority in that space to start conversations around what we thought the ‘Rules of the Round’ were and to have fun with that,” said Jahnke.
“Everyone has gone to the pub and has had that awkward moment where they don’t know what the etiquette is for who buys the next round.”
The first three videos in the series were launched in January and captured almost 500,000 page views, according to Rickard’s. The maker of the red-ale brew believed that was enough traction to launch three more videos this week.
The videos were created by Rethink and MEC was the media agency. The campaign can only be found on social media, primarily on YouTube and Facebook, but Rickard’s said it has been spilling over to Twitter.
Nicole Wolff, an assistant marketing manager at Rickard’s, said the campaign is a way for the brand to ramp up its presence across social media and use that venue to generate more creative content in the future.
“It’s such a rich territory. There really is no limit to what we can do with these videos,” said Wolff, adding that another series of videos could be on the way.
Rickard’s is also considering incorporating “Rules of the Round” in future marketing campaigns, but said it has no specific plans yet on what that might look like.
