Rockshore Celebrates 'Refreshingly Irish' Banter in Brand Campaign from M&C Saatchi London

Rockshore, the Diageo-owned Irish lager and cider brand, has today revealed a new brand platform and multichannel campaign, ‘Refreshingly Irish’, which celebrates the unique playful Irish banter that happens between true friends. The push was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi London.

The push is the first to launch since Diageo selected M&C Saatchi London as its lead creative agency for Rockshore across Ireland, following a three-way competitive pitch.

Diageo tasked M&C Saatchi with developing a bold, distinctive, fun new creative platform for Rockshore, which would connect product, brand, cultural and consumer truths, have longevity, and work through-the-line.

To engage with Irish lager drinkers of all ages, M&C Saatchi London landed on the insight that the seemingly brutal banter Irish people are known for is actually a way of them showing affection.

Recognising that Irish people show their love for their friends by making fun of each other, the humorous new campaign sees Rockshore celebrate the playful banter specific to real Irish friendship by subverting traditional methods of communicating love and affection in a “Refreshingly Irish” way.

A 30-second TV spot, directed by Jeffrey Max (Fatal Farm) at Agile Films, is a pastiche of classic love song videos. Featuring 'As Long As You Love Me' by Backstreet Boys, and starring protagonist and brand character Rocko, the ad subverts the song’s lyrics, replacing them with banter between friends.

A series of out-of-home executions features a number of different headlines celebrating the way in which real friends make fun of each other. This is supported by video-on-demand, social and audio.

Media planning and buying for the campaign is by PHD.

Rockshore pours in 91% of the top bars in Ireland.

Linda Bradley, head of beer, Diageo Ireland, said, “We have achieved a lot since launching Rockshore five years ago, but we still have big ambitions for the brand, and we needed a bold, ownable creative platform to match those ambitions.

“With this original, refreshing creative approach, we are confident that M&C Saatchi London and our new brand platform can help us build a meaningful and distinctive place in Irish consumers’ hearts and minds.”

Guy Bradbury, creative partner, M&C Saatchi London, added, “From the very start of this campaign, we wanted to create a distinctive creative platform, that was true to the nature of real Irish friendship. We’ve taken a classic love song from the Backstreet Boys and subverted it to make something memorable.”