Dos Equis' 'Most Interesting Man' Is an Even Greater Beer Salesman
Euro's Gray-Bearded Creation for Heineken USA Import Has Led to Double-Digit Gains in Declining Category
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- "He lives vicariously through himself."
"The police often question him just because they find him interesting."
He is the "Most Interesting Man in the World," the 60-something Connery-meets-Castro-meets-Hemingway character created by ad agency Euro RSCG to sell Heineken USA's Dos Equis brand.
Sales are up
Through mid-June, a period when imported beer sales dropped 11%, sales of Dos Equis rose more than 17%, moving the brand into eighth place among imports (in a tie with Stella Artois), when shipments rose 13%. That success prompted Heineken executives, who had been running the ads since 2007 in a few stronghold markets for the brand, to take the message national this spring.
"There's never really been an import brand that's been built so clearly through advertising," said Benj Steinman, publisher of Beer Marketer's Insights.
Equally unprecedented is the campaign's reliance on two things rarely seen -- actively shunned, even -- in beer ads: a gray-haired protagonist, played in the Dos Equis ads by veteran TV actor Jonathan Goldsmith, who in every ad acknowledges that he doesn't always drink beer.
But to hear the people behind the campaign tell it, there was really no other way to effectively attack the 2006 brief, which challenged the agency to "establish a distinctive, desirable and premium identity as evidenced by significant growth of key brand-tracking measures," which would, in turn, be "different from other brands," a "cool brand" and be "worth paying more for."
They came up with a character who has spent his life, according to the grainy images in the spots, engaging in swordplay, leading mysterious expeditions, reeling in large sailfish and arm wrestling soldiers. The images are provided without context or explanation, which is the point.
Brand has 'a lot of mystique'
"We had a tremendous amount of research that showed us this brand, for consumers, had a lot of mystique," said Mary Perhach, Euro's account director on the brand since the agency won the business in 2004. "Drinkers wanted to be seen by their friends, and by ladies, as interesting."
And who doesn't? But beer brands have rarely picked older actors to appeal to their youthful targets, and when they have -- Anheuser-Busch asking George Burns to sell a low-alcohol beer in the 1980s; Coors' use of aging athletes such as Willie Mays and Bobby Hull in the late 1990s; and Miller Lite's use of Burt Reynolds as a spokesman in a 2007 -- results have generally been poor.
Dos Equis saw an aging spokesman as an opportunity. "What's interesting about him is that he doesn't compete with our consumer," said Kheri Tillman, VP-marketing for Dos Equis. "He's more of an inspiration. He's an aspirational target for them."
That's seldom clearer than it is online, where the Most Interesting Man hosts a Most Interesting Academy, in which he delivers various life lessons and opines for an avid Facebook following of about 58,000 fans (the brand has an additional 114,000 fans on its own page) who seem to hang on his every word.
Consider that, on July 8, he advised his Facebook followers: "Every now and then, bite off more than you can chew." Within an hour, 965 people had blessed the comment with an approving "likes this," and 110 more had taken the time to write out their own responses, many of which were attempts at similar pearls of wisdom. Likewise, on the Dos Equis' website, which he dominates, visitors spend an average of 7.42 minutes per visit, according to Google Analytics.
Lines heard in bars
And the campaign, which snared a Titanium Lion at Cannes this year, has also made its way into bars, restaurants and nightclubs. "We hear people saying the lines in bars all the time," said Jim Doney, president of Chicago Beverage Systems, a major wholesaler of Heineken, MillerCoors and Crown Imports beer brands, who credits the marketing for his 32% boost in Dos Equis sales this year.
That a key distributor such as Mr. Doney is willing to publicly shower praise on a beer campaign whose protagonist admits to sometimes trying wine and spirits is, in itself, noteworthy, as the "Most Interesting Man" effort is believed to be the first beer campaign in history to have done so.
"That was a question in my early conversations with [Heineken CEO Don Blaustein], and he even questioned it a little bit," Mr. Doney said. "But I think what it's shown is that it gives it some credibility, because a lot of people don't just drink beer."
Asked what's next for the Most Interesting Man, Euro Chief Creative Officer Conway Williamson that the agency won't try to fix what's working. "He'll just keep going until his sailboat disappears."
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"There's never really been an import brand that's been built so clearly through advertising," ...
Sweet music to my ears. Proof that advertising does work.
Second. Could the "Most Interesting Man" be the second coming of Ogilvy's "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt" or "The Man from Schweppes" - Commander Whitehead?
I think what made Ogilvy's Hathaway and Schweppes campaigns brilliant, and what makes Euro's Dos Equis campaign so successful, is that both employ a mystery story in their ads.
The "Most Interesting Man" character "...engaged in swordplay, led mysterious expeditions, reeled in large sailfish and arm wrestled soldiers."
How did the "Man in the Hathaway Shirt" obtain his eye-patch? Who is Commander Whitehead? What makes him so unique?
They are all older gentlemen with years of life's experiences. I think it's engaging for consumers to ponder each of these character's history and formulate their own individual way of how they came to be.
The ads start the story in the middle; its up to consumers to hypothesize how they got there.
http://twitter.com/brianvandeputte
http://domusinc.blogspot.com
They take a generic beer and elevates it to a whole new level. These ads really cut through the clutter of all the other beer ads.
People have grown board of how beer is currently being marketed
Treating beer like it's a hard liquor, but with a subtle sense of humour is a nice change.
Here's the story of a satirical beer campaign that somehow became infamous http://thelintscreen.com/2008/11/10/the-swedish-bikini-team-legend/
The key phrases have made their way in to his everyday conversations.
Plus, he noted how he hoped he looked as good as "The Most Interesting Man in the World" when he was his age.
It hit all of the marks.
Kudos.
Its about time a beer brand distanced itself so well from everyone else in the category.
http://dearadvertisin.blogspot.com/
Great point, from Patrick in Atlanta.
One of Mr. Ogilvy's cardinal rules was not to show how your product is better, but rather how it is different.
This guy is not corny or campy but rather sophisticated and mysterious. He's suave, dashing, has an accent, and is Tres cool, personified.
The point here is - are people buying the beer or the guy who's selling the beer? As others have said here, just goes to show that good advertising really does work.
Every "real" man wants to be surrounded by race cars and hot women. God dammit, I want to be the most interesting man in the world!
Tommy Zarzecki
Publisher, PlanetZman
The Last Great Bastion For Real Men
http://www.planetzman.com
"There's never really been an import brand that's been built so clearly through advertising," ...
What about Corona? With their relaxed, beach creative that catipulted them to be the #1 import? Although that sailing ship is disapearing- It is an import brand that was built very clearly through advertising.
Ogilvy On Beer Advertising.
Great to see some beer work that isn't of the party, party, party variety.
Now every guy with a XX in hand can say he is "the most interesting man in the world", it makes you laugh, even to yourself. its value added and when all the beers at a bar are the same price, this gives your product the edge.
I am no expert on advertising, but I do come from the town where XX is brewed. (Siglo 20 or 20th Century was its orginal name) XX is a brand of Cuahutemoc Moctezuma Brewery in Monterrey México and, as far as I know, it is not a Heineken Brand. I cheked the Heineken and they don't say that they do carry the XX brand. Cervecería Cuahutemoc sometimes does deals with other breweries abroad for distribution like with Labatt in Canada, so that may be the case for the Heineken relationship with this campaign. But if there isn't a deal, and something hasn't changed radically in the world order lately, this article may be just wrong.
If you visit he site staythirsty.com you may see what I say.
But lets not all be sour grapes, and have a beer, preferably a XX.
(I personally prefer Indio, although not widely marketed yet, I think you'll love it too)
Ironically a lot of the beer campaigns here in Canada rely on showing exactly that - well, mainly the hot women. Timid and tired ads with 'typical' 20 something guys and hot women in bikinis.
Funny that actually showing a strong guy (an old one at that) who is aspirational is more effective.
Yes, some of the lines are funny and the VO is great, but I can't for the life of me figure out how it drives sales.
Coming on the heels of the news that the KFC campaign also drove sales, maybe the fact that they were on TV at all is more important (to sales) than what the creative is.
http://www.kenjisummers.com/2009/06/dos-equis-event-shut-down/
Hats off to Euro RSCG and Dos Equis.
ha. stick to the wine coolers.
@tedmanger - The reason this is different than the KFC/Oprah disaster is that:
1) The campaign was driven out of the strategy which considered consumers current perceptions of Dos Equis, "We had a tremendous amount of research that showed us this brand, for consumers, had a lot of mystique."
They leveraged consumer perceptions in a great campaign and are driving sales dramatically in a down market.
2) There is no mess to clean up, with tens of thousands of consumers pissed off because they didn't get their free chicken.
The KFC strategy was "give away chicken". How is that advertising? How does that enhance the Brand?
Also, this is just the most recent great campaign, there are plenty of others. Corona springs to mind.
Let's look at Coors Light. It's the beer who's unique selling proposition is that "It's COLD." Oh, yeah, the mountains turn blue on the can when it's cold enough for us dumb-ass humans to start quaffing. And, it has a wider mouth. But they forget to mention that it still tastes like beer flavored water.
Bud Light had Drinkibility, whatever the f@#k that was.
I've ALWAYS liked Heineken's "It's ALL About the Beer, campaign. That green bottle and red star was screaming DRINK ME! And I really do love the commercial with the chicks screaming in the closet, then the dudes going ballistic in the beer fridge. You see all those unmistakable green bottles and the brand is first and foremost.
But this Dos Equis ad is such an interesting approach, the guy you'd love to be... except for jkantor1 who thinks it's on the level of 14 years-olds. And to that I say that all men are 14 year-olds at heart. We like to dream and play... and be surrounded by hot broads and race cars.
And what the hell is wrong with that, may I ask?
Tommy Zarzecki
Publisher, PlanetZman
The Last Great Bastion for REAL Men
http://www.planetzman.com
Enough has already been said in the article and commentaries posted about the campaign creative concept and execution that I need not repeat them. It is a truly refreshing campaign!
What has been mentioned in passing but not really elaborated on, however, is the unique positioning of Dos Equis compared to other beer brands, whether domestic or imported.
Whereas virtually all beer brands position themselves against other beer brands within the category and/or their segment, Dos Equis has uniquely positioned itself outside the category but within a total and balanced wine, spirits and beer consumer lifestyle drinking regimen and experience.
Whereas most beer brands attempt to target the heavy-user suds drinker (the old 80/20 rule), Dos Equis has staked its positioning on the occasional beer drinker, who simply knows and wants the best of everything when imbibing anything. To wit, "The Most Interesting Man" (Jonathan Goldsmith) wants a top-shelf single malt like The Genlivet when drinking scotch at a special event, the finest Cabernet or Merlot when eating a great steak, and the best beer, whenever ... Dos Equis.
I think Kheri Tillman, VP-Marketing for Dos Equis said it best: "He's more of an inspiration. He's an aspirational target ...". Indeed, all true luxury brands are aspirational in nature, whether one has already "arrived" or is on their way to getting there.
On a personal note, I would like to add that the Dos Equis product is truly and consistently outstanding from the rest. When I occasionally order a beer in a pub or restaurant, or grab a six-pack for a football game at home, my first choice is always Bass Ale, of course. Then Dos Equis. If they don't have these, then it's usually Heineken (preferably Dark).
The product point here is that Dos Equis is not your usual swill and it's not for everyone - especially at twice the price of a Bud, Miller or Coors. To those who pay a premium price for the likes of Corona, I say, you don't know what you don't know and you have been snookered (but that's my job, so mea culpa).
Put all of these things together, along with a competitive ad budget, and it's no wonder Dos Equis day has finally come. As HBO's highly successful "It's Not TV, It's HBO" positioning suggests, "It's Not Just Beer, It's Dos Equis". Kudos to all concerned.
bcrandallnyc@aol.com
Second: a six-pack only costs about two bucks more than St. Louis swill, at least around these parts. Since a single Dos Equis is more satisfying than a thousand Buds, the value proposition is strong.
Third: "Stay thirsty, my friends" is the most brilliant advice I've heard all year.
Bravo.
While I can't say for sure that it is his voice, his patented FRONTLINE-type voice over adds quite a bit to the campaign's quirky sense of authority.
lgc
Obviously I must be in the minority as scads of people seem to be rushing out and boosting sales, but the beer better taste good (and some here say it does) or the customer won't come back. You can get the initial sales that can cause revenues to spike, but it's gotta have staying power to make them come back.
I guess I just don't understand how some people can react lemming-like to the ad. It's a humorous ad, in a way, but I've never found anything in it to cause me to pull the trigger and say "Hmm, I want to give this a try because an actor in a commercial put on a good performance." I don't see the brilliance that has been attributed.
And yet people obviously have been so moved. As I said, I just don't get it.
Rich
Wonder work Euro. Award winning stuff.
GREAT LINE!
It's www.staythirstymyfriends.com