My favourite campaign at the moment has to be the 'You know who your mates are' campaign for Carling beer. I'm not too familiar with the beer - mostly because it tastes like piss - but I'm pretty certain it has been building a relationship with blokes through football sponsorships and the like throughout the UK. This brand campaign is a broader approach, understandably, that cleverly re-creates common situations guys find themselves in, although within a different context.
For example, the latest TV spot sees a group of guys stranded on an island, hailing a passing ship. Subtle additions such as the fact that the passing ship has 'its light on' inform the viewer that they're watching a metaphor for modern life. Anyone who has struggled to find a cab late at night after the pub can relate to the feeling - it's barely an exaggeration.
While the situations perfectly relate to Carling's target audience - guys who drink beer - what makes the campaign so strong is the camaraderie of the guys in each spot. In the desert island spot, one of the guy's fascination with finding sticks causes the group to miss the passing ship. Rather than be outraged with him, the guys laugh it off, although not before delivering the great line 'Brilliant another stick. Just what we need on this island of sticks' (Unfortunately, this isn't said in the YouTube version I found.). They decide they'll ;get the next one; and start walking, further reinforcing the metaphor of trying to find a cab home at the end of a night out with the guys.
Each of the TV spots has a moment like this, where one of the guys or the group of guys go out of their way for each other. It's aspirational and nostalgic at the same time. It makes you want to get the guys together over a pint of Carling and tell old war tales, while making some new ones as well. It's everything a brand campaign for a blokes beer could hope to be. Good on ya, Carling. Too bad your beer still tastes like piss, though. (Campaign by Beattie McGuiness Bungay.)
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