By Andrew Starke
Lion Nathan has proclaimed its marketing campaigns for Tooheys Extra Dry and Tooheys New as a success following the launch of a new television commercial for the former last night (Mar 14).
Part TV commercial, part video clip, the advert marks the culmination of a five month integrated marketing campaign, ‘The Lab’, for Tooheys Extra Dry.
The campaign continues the brand’s reputation for innovative use of music which has previously led to festival sponsorships and projects like uncharTED.
According to Lion Nathan, what sets the TV campaign apart is its development as part of Tooheys Extra Dry’s broader music initiative, The Lab – led by music agency Peer Group.
Each execution is set to the track Fox, by up-and-coming Aussie band Danimals – who were chosen by musician and producer Mark Ronson to travel to New York and collaborate with international music legends in The Lab.
The resulting track is a collaboration between Danimals, Mark Ronson, John Taylor of Duran Duran, Alex Greenwald and Santigold and is already getting air time on Triple J and FBi.
While ‘The Lab’ TV campaign has come to an end, Lion Nathan is also pleased with the trade’s reaction to it very different ‘Beer Economy’ campaign for Tooheys New.
Launched in February, the ‘Beer Economy’ campaign explores the notion that beer is often used as a currency in Australia.
“The Beer Economy creative works so well because this simple insight rings true in the real world, and is a concept most people can relate to,” said Lion Nathan marketing director, Margaret Zabel.
The campaign was first rolled out on February 7 with the first four of nine television spots exploring topics from what to charge your grandma for helping out with chores, to the laws of mateship and the logistics of milking a thoroughbred stallion for the purposes of breeding.
The campaign is being supported by an in-store activation campaign, with bottleshops and pubs being equipped with ‘Beer IOU’ coasters, ‘Tooheys New Accepted Here’ stickers for tradesmen, and ‘Beer IOU’ chequebooks.
Contacted by TheShout, a Lion Nathan spokesperson said XXXX Summer Bright Lager and Tooheys Extra Dry were both good examples of the company reinvigorating two of its largest trademarks.
She said Tooheys Extra Dry is currently the fifth largest beer in the country and continuing to experience double-digit growth, while Toohey’s New is Australia’s fourth biggest selling beer.
“You will see from the new communications we launched for Toohey’s Extra Dry yesterday that it has such a different identity to that of NEW that the two sit comfortably together within the same trademark and when Extra Dry grows, NEW benefits,” she said.