Schweppes has launched an online branded content series as part of its 'Cocktail Revolution' positioning. The brand went into an old-school pub in country Victoria and took away the beer. Now that is a brave client.
Filmed over two days at the hundred-year Old Hepburn Hotel with mostly hidden cameras, the locals featured in the series had no idea what was going on. Or why their precious beer had been taken away and replaced with cocktails. If you thought the 'stereotypical Australian male' reactions to no beer was just a tad too stereotypical, be assured, they weren't actors, it wasn't scripted, it was real.
The first three-minute episode was unveiled today on YouTube and through the Schweppes 'Cocktail Revolution' website. Two more instalments will be unleashed next Wednesday and the one following. In the third episode, a gang of visiting bikies arrive only to be deprived of their brews. Hmmm...
The branded content series was the brainchild of George Patterson Y&R Melbourne.
There was no overt Schweppes branding throughout the episode until the end except for a 'Cocktail Revolution' titlecard and some bottles of Schweppes drinks in-shot. Branding presence in branded content was explored through the lens of neuroscience and Toshiba and Intel's 'The Beauty Inside' campaign here.
Schweppes senior brand manager Hanan Eissa said: “It's a bit scary, knocking back a bikie when they ask for a beer – but we had some fun with this series – convincing the punters to mix it up with some new flavours and break their boring, beer habit for a day.”
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