2018 Gold Travel and leisure

Agency: Havas London

Client: Britain's Beer Alliance

Campaign name: Long Live The Local

Campaign overview

Stirring up support for the great British local

The brief

Persuade the Chancellor to change his mind about beer tax by drumming up petition signatures and emails to MPs.

Strategy

Since targeting MPs to prevent beer tax increases had fallen flat, Havas London and Britain’s Beer Alliance went after voters instead.

Tax increases were positioned as a direct threat to pubs in a bid to behave like a protest movement.

To maximise impact, communications were timed with two major peaks in spend, just before and just after the summer Parliamentary recess.

Messaging reflected successful modern movements and a highly targeted media campaign was used to ensure MPs noticed.

Creativity

Emotion needed to be a strong part of the campaign to appeal to pub-goers and landlords.

The creative played to fears of pub closures that would impact communities and culture if tax increased.

Facts were also vital for people to get behind the initiative and act, so research revealing three pub closures per day was shared.

Using petition signing and writing to MPs as calls to action, the campaign helped supporters claim the issue was “bigger than beer”.

Campaign strapline “Long Live The Local” underpinned the movement, accompanied by protest-inspired visual creative of a pint glass turned exclamation mark.

The integrated initiative also included a film, long-copy press ad, OOH work, social media and PR, and activation kits distributed to pubs.

Results

In just nine weeks, Long Live The Local notched 94,000 signatures and emails to MPs, 600% more than all industry initiatives garnered in 2017. Each UK MP received at least one email from a constituent.

Blanket coverage has been secured in every national newspaper and major broadcaster, with celebrities such as Ray Winstone and Jodie Kidd lending support, while the film was shared 119,000 times and viewed more than 10 million times.

Campaign video

Team

Havas helia - Ben Mooge, Executive Creative Director - Mark Sinnock, Chief Strategy Officer - Dan Davies, Junior Designer - Xavier Rees, Chief Executive Officer - Alex Tizard, Copywriter - Jonathan Rands, Art Director - Jennifer Black, Managing Partner - Tom Trevelyan, Account Director - Jahney Smith, Account Manager - Ravi Matharu, Strategy Director - Josh Toogood, Content Team - Adam Henderson, Producer - Natasha King, Producer - Sarah Wells, Producer - Emma Gibbons, Account Director - Graham Kenchington, Account Manager

Britain's Beer Alliance - David Cunningham, Programme Director - Tom Price-Stephens, Marketing Lead - Laurence Creamer, Community Manager

Contributors

Stink Films, Ewen Spencer, LGA, Electric Theatre Collective, Sam Ashwell and 750