Droga5 unveils new ad for VB

they started with ‘the drinking beer’, then moved to ‘real’, now they’re the ‘best cold beer’….a fluid strategy or mismanagement. the ‘regulars’ was gold, this is a fail

Ahhhh…time keeper, I think you’ll find that it all started with ‘best cold beer’.

Apparently, the ‘regulars’ was mismanagement.

Do you think CUB went back to where it all began because the last campaign worked?

Every real beer lover knows the most shit beers need to be the coldest. Try drinking a New or a West End a touch warm.

But, regardless, this is such a weak strategic thought for what was/should be such an icon. Even if sales are deservedly on the skids (Aussies developed taste buds), they could claim a loftier position than this.

Lost, lost, lost

Yeah, I can’t imagine punters are out there going ‘jeez, haven’t VB been really indecisive on their single minded proposition lately’, but jeez, haven’t VB been really indecisive on their single minded proposition lately. What’s going on?

Oh dear

Does nothing to break down the barrier that it’s ultimately a shit tasting product.

I know let’s do the renault split screen execution on all all our ads

A great ad that addresses the barrier of drinkers rejecting the brand because they were unaware that it’s supposed to be consumed cold. Umm!

I think it’s good… there, I said it.

Fail. This ad doesn’t give VB a point of difference since pretty much EVERY beer is better cold. Price point is the only thing at this stage that will work for VB. I saw it at Liquorland last week for same price as Becks ($43 a carton). Guy behind the counter said they hadn’t sold a carton all day. Get the price down to $33 or so, and you have a winner.

Those guys who only ever bring a bag of ice to a BBQ really piss me off

Hahaha @ Joe. He’d be more welcome at my BBQ than the guy who brings a carton of VB. Unless to stop people drinking his beer he put Corona in a VB carton.

“Saw this great ad on tele last night, right…. split screen…a guy with some VB bumps into another guy…and you’ll love this…with ice! Cold beer! Clever eh?”

Silence…except for a soft “Gudoofil” from the watercooler.

Two great tastes that taste great together…Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

http://youtu.be/_nUIlcNoUy4

This campaign ran for about 20 years and sold a lot of Reese’s. Maybe that’s what VB is hoping for here.

I’d say the best cold beer ads are old Vic

http://youtu.be/y___OuEshXk

I used to feel like a man drinking VB, now I just feel like a tool. Thanks guys, another icon bites the dust.

To be honest…I think props should go to Droga5 on the creative on this. Its good copywriting from them…but shameful Marketing strategy from CUB

and i wanted to work at d5. now i’ll just stick at ogilvy selling chicken

A friend used to be a senior marketing person for one of the breweries. He told me beer is bought in pubs and bottle shops and the decisions are made a point of sale and largely driven by price and merchandising. This ad illustrates the challenge for advertising. Tastes and habits have changed and there is no amount of advertising that will change that. More and more decisions are made at point of sale because many of us don’t see much advertising. The fact VB are advertising on TV at all is a throw back to the old days when that type of advertising really drove consumers. It does not and it’s not Drogas fault the client wanted a TVC.

VB was for decades an iconic Australian brand, one of just a handful left today.

But sadly its time has passed. This passing cannot be blamed on an Agency, nor any one campaign. Times change, and if a brand fails to evolve so as to remain relevant to it’s new generation of consumers then it will go the way of typewriters and bookstores.

Boonies are now Beckhams. Hoge’s & Strop cultural relics.

I speak with a little knowledge. I was a very young creative who worked on the brand 20 years ago. Patts Melb had the account & it was the time of Elliot & Bartels. Their sole focus was on Fosterising the globe, so VB had a tiny budget. It was almost an afterthought. But the idea of a beer being a reward for honest blue collar toil was a key. The soundtrack was the theme from The Magnificent 7, made to great use by Marlboro’s cowboy campaign, who I would later work with at Burnetts in Chicago. John Meillion’s famous dinky Di rasp, and lots of fat sweaty tradies.

“a big thirst needs a big cold beer”

Patts assigned it’s B teams to VB. But without heavy overseeing by client the ads hit a chord. Decades later 1 in 3 beers drank here were VB.

Where did it go off the rails? I’d say decades ago. Fosters never got their heads around the evolution of the “bloke”. Now they are just lost. Despite Droga 5, Ant Keogh et al it’s a lost cause. Fosters will soon be sold off, and a new crew will be appointed to try and find where the brand’s missing mojo got lost.

Just for the record, I’ve never worked on VB in my life.

Sorry Ant, what i meant to say in mentioning your name was, even if they gave it to you and your amazing creative team to fix, it would still be a lost cause. Cheers!

I really rate this ad

Not a bad VB ad and the best since stubby symphony.
I think it is important to keep in mind that the exceptional growth of VB, Carlton Draught and more recently XXXX Gold over the years came about by rapid national expansion NOT great ads. Yes, some of the ads were great but i think it is a little indulgent of some posting here to think there ads have driven the performance of the brands they have worked. Heaven forbid could the client actually understand the brand strategy goes beyond and ad.