Not into Valentine’s Day? Banks’s Beer isn’t either. And its agency, Big Al’s Creative Emporium, is reminding like-minded West Midlanders that there’s an alternative event on February 14.
Darts night.
Big Al’s tactical ad is part of the brewery’s Tells It Like It Is campaign. It combines real graffiti from independent artist, Graffoflarge, with the brewery’s social platforms to create a witty social commentary in line with the brand’s West Midland roots.
The ad’s aim is to revitalise Banks’s Beer, and in particular Banks’ Amber Ale, to appeal to a younger audience of ale drinkers. Gaynor Green, marketing manager of the brand’s owner, Marston’s, commented, “Banks’s is a traditional beer brand that’s steeped in history, but we needed to create something radical to engage with a younger audience. This campaign is an example of Big Al’s’ ability to think outside the box to come up with an idea that goes beyond traditional media and get the brand back in to popular culture.”
Stef Jones, creative partner at Big Al’s Creative Emporium, added, “Despite an extremely limited marketing budget, we wanted to give the Banks’s brand a new lease of life by appropriating the straight-talking wit and grit of its industrial Black Country roots. Our solution was to develop a graffiti campaign around the straight-talking tagline, Tells it like it is. Getting our messages onto unconventional urban spaces allowed us to create a subversive ambient campaign which, in turn, we were able to activate across social platforms – and it’s really beginning to take on a life of its own.”
Previous work includes a tongue-in-cheek good luck message to celebrities in 2017 – a macabre reaction to the many deaths of public figures last year and an apt commentary about property prices.
Credits:
Client: Marston’s Brewery
Brand: Banks’s
Creative agency: Big Al’s Creative Emporium
Executive creative directors: Tom Burnay & Stef Jones
Creatives: Martin Gillan, Graham Storey, Phil Cockerall, Sean Doyle, Giles Smith, Darren Turner & Steffan MacMillan
Director of strategy: Laurie Castelli-Gair
Planner: Gavin MacDonald
Graffiti artist: Steve ‘Graffoflarge’ Edwards