The Scoop on “Corona’s Biggest, Broadest Reaching Global Campaign Yet”
Corona Cero, the alcohol-free beer from the AB InBev crispy lager, is the first ever global beer partner of the Olympics. The job of marking this partnership fell to Corona's global agency partner, Grey, who landed on a strategy not often associated with sporting events: the joy of relaxation.
The 360-campaign platform is entitled 'Golden Moments', and includes an activation component entitled 'Golden Venues', which involves taking actual seats from Paris Olympic Games venues to iconic sunset destinations across four continents, such as Thames Riverfront in London, Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro, the Grand Peninsula Lagonissi in Athens, and Café Del Mar in Cartagena.
"The Olympic association is one often connected to achievement," says Gabriel Schmitt, global chief creative officer at Grey, "while the Corona golden moment is historically found in nature, at the pinnacle of relaxation. What sat in the middle was celebration, the inevitable collision of pride and joy, shared in both worlds."
To find out more about, in Gabriel's words, "Corona’s biggest, broadest reaching global campaign yet", LBB's Addison Capper chatted with him.
LBB> What was your starting point developing Corona Cero's Olympics partnership campaign? Was there quite a tight brief? Tell us about it.
Gabriel> The brief was challenging, for sure, namely trying to find an elegant and ownable way to expand the meaning of golden moments beyond the Olympic definition. The Olympic association is one often connected to achievement, while the Corona golden moment is historically found in nature, at the pinnacle of relaxation. What sat in the middle was celebration, the inevitable collision of pride and joy, shared in both worlds. Once we cracked this truth, the campaign idea was unlocked, and the ideas started flowing.
LBB> Corona Cero is the first ever global beer sponsor of the Olympic Games - did this factor into the way that you approached this challenge at all? What kind of opportunities and challenges did it present?
Gabriel> The Olympic stage already comes with tremendous pressure for all involved, the athletes, of course, but also the brands who stand for them and this stage. To work on such a ‘first’ briefing – Corona Cero is the first beer brand to ever sponsor the Olympic Games – was an honour. Also, it’s the first brand ever to explore an area never explored in the Olympics: relaxation. Brands have historically been connected to the sense of preparation, achievement and performance while Corona Cero stepped in to carve out an equally important area: the importance of relaxation. And because Corona Cero is a no-alcohol beer, it is truly the perfect fit for this global occasion, allowing more people more opportunities to unwind.
LBB> Why did you opt for a more experiential campaign?
Gabriel> Corona Cero launched the ‘For Every Golden Moment’ platform in 40-plus markets globally and has brought it to life across all media touchpoints, from films, social media, OOH, and trade, including Olympics-themed bottles in select markets worldwide. But if there’s one brand that allows us to create great experiences, it is Corona. The idea of feeling connected to nature with your friends, while you are having a Corona Cero, is experiential by design. And given the emotional tenor and promise of the campaign, we knew we couldn’t just show what we meant, but enable people to truly experience what we meant.
LBB> Tell me a bit more generally about the Golden Venues idea and where it came from. What was the creative process like? What were your big inspirations?
Gabriel> We wanted to have an experiential idea that not only brought to life the ‘For Every Golden Moment’ platform but did it in an unmissable and ownable way. Bringing the same seats as from some of the Olympic Games venues in Paris, like Champ de Mars, Grand Palais, and Le Concorde, to these incredibly beautiful places around the world proves that, while Golden Moments are happening in Paris, millions of others are happening around the world. And we love that rather than interfering with these beautiful places it just allows people to enjoy them more. Across four continents, you can participate in the grandeur of life’s golden moments at places like Grand Peninsula Lagonissi in Athens, Greece, Arpoador Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Café Del Mar in Cartagena, Colombia, Coatepeque Volcano, El Salvador, Morito Beach in Kanagawa, Japan, and the V&A Waterfront in South Africa, with extraordinary views of Table Mountain, one of the world's Seven Wonders of Nature.
For Corona’s biggest, broadest reaching global campaign yet, our inspiration is always the consumer. How can we serve them in meaningful ways to drive greater brand connection? Answering that singular question served us every day.
LBB> Once you had the core idea locked, what was the process like from there for such a big global project like this?
Gabriel> It's impossible to make an idea like this without being in lockstep with our clients, our partners and the production companies. In this case, the client team moved beyond a single global source, to country leads around the world. This is often when you see the power of a great idea and its ability to unite a global team against a shared ambition. Remaining true to the idea was always our guiding light, and that singular focus was essential, given the six weeks we had to pull this off. And, of course, communication was our daily, often hourly ally (with 100s of long WhatsApp threads to prove it) to help deliver the experiences we knew our consumer deserved.
LBB> How did you go about deciding where to place your 'golden venues'? Choosing such beautiful global landmarks must have been a nice challenge!
Gabriel> We looked at our most promising markets and asked, ‘where’s the most beautiful sunset here?’ Can’t complain about our jobs.
LBB> What was the production process like? There must have been so much to implement across so many different locations. How did you manage that centrally at Grey?
Gabriel> It all started with finding the right production partner. We looked to find a balance of both logistical ability and creative vision. Often with ideas like this, they exist on paper as hypothetical, of course with great producers keeping you honest, but a great production partner helps your idea leap off the page and become tangible. Helo Experiences was that partner for us. In this case, additionally, given the speed in which we needed to execute, we also partnered with Corona Studios to identify content creators in nine countries to help capture making of, implementation, and ultimately people enjoying the beauty of what these Olympic seats served as a reminder of – that Golden Moments can live well beyond the games, and we’d like to give the world the ability to embrace their own Golden Moments via the nature surrounding them, every day.
LBB> What other elements are there supporting the golden venue locations?
Gabriel> The ‘Golden Venues’ will be amplified by local influencers, social, and specialty media buys including Olympic broadcast integration in select markets, which will be central to helping shine a spotlight on these ‘Golden Venues’ and reinforcing the importance of every person’s Golden Moments. Each market tailored recommendations to best engage local communities, all in the spirit of essentially activating a real-life demo reinforcing the importance of everyone around the world embracing their golden moments, every day.
LBB> Overall, what do you and the Corona clients hope to achieve with this campaign?
Gabriel> We want people to be inspired by the idea that Golden Moments are happening every day. We just need to tune into them, Corona Cero in hand, and friends by your side.
LBB> What were the trickiest components and how did you overcome them?
Gabriel> Probably the two most difficult challenges were 1) time and 2) quality control. With nuanced shipping, customs, on the ground support, etc. to produce, activate, and launch a campaign globally all in one day, is quite the undertaking. But the satisfaction of knowing that you are putting something physical into the world for people to enjoy the many gifts that nature has to offer brings incredible pride and joy to the entire team.
LBB> Any parting thoughts?
Gabriel> If you are reading this in one of the 11 places around the world where Corona Cero placed the same seats as from the Olympic Games venues, do yourself a favour and go enjoy the sun from there.
