National Braai Day event – match boxes
For the first time in 2013, Castle Lager will build on their existing connection with South Africa's passion for sport by tapping into another well loved past time - The Braai.
As a leading below-the-line and shopper marketing agency, 34 have developed a national TTL campaign for Castle Lager to truly leverage the Braai occasion and own a space that comes as naturally to South Africans as tuning into the big game.
With a smart combination of consumer insights across cultural nuances, PR and partnership marketing opportunities in the braai and shisanyama category, 34 has delivered more than just a national beer promotion.
Jan Braai and Proteas cricketer Jacques Kallis outside Perseverance Tavern in Cape Town
"We've worked closely with the Castle Lager brand team and looked to tap into opportunities beyond the confines of traditional retail campaigns. We've cleverly cross merchandised between liquor and grocery, where the shopper purchases other items that are essential to the braai occasion," says MD of 34 Cape Town, Grant Hillary. "We spent a huge amount of time understanding the cultural nuances of the braai and shisanyama occasions and tailored this to the specific class of trade activity, over and above the national on-pack campaign.
"One example of this was to partner with South African charcoal brand Charka to develop co-branded packs of Charka Brikettes taking the campaign beyond the beer category and into the wider shopper mission for the braai category as a whole," explains Hillary. With this in mind, Castle Lager also extended their brand into Marinade, Braai Salt and Spice.
Charka & Castle Lager co-branded pack
34 amplified this with a 360 PR partnership with the founder of National Braai Day, Jan Braai, to give the brand enhanced credibility to a very passionate consumer base of "braai-ers." PR activities included a tour of South Africa's six oldest pubs where Jan, Castle Lager in hand, braai'ed with local personalities and generated social media content. Jan also hosted a braai for Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund and 12 of Castle Lager's top Superfans at a tavern in Umlazi, ahead of Bafana's clash against Botswana in Durban.
The campaign will peak on National Braai Day, 24 September, with events in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. "True to brand narrative, Castle Lager will bring the nation together with a world record attempt for the most people cooking (braaing) at the same time, simultaneously co-ordinated at the six events around the country," explains Hillary.
The trade campaign broke on 9 September and is supported through the line with TV and Outdoor (through Ogilvy Johannesburg) Radio and PR ensuring that this Braai Season the entire country will know that a braai isn't a braai, without Castle Lager!
