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Behind the Work in association withThe Immortal Awards
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Why Tiger Beer’s Bold Brand DNA Resonates with ‘New Progressives’

22/02/2023
Advertising Agency
Singapore, Singapore
376
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Global brand director Sean O’Donnell and Le Pub APAC’s ECD Cyril Louis tell Esther Faith Lew how they dug into the psyche of the generation to create a campaign that literally stopped people in their tracks


Tiger Beer’s brand DNA of inspiring people to be bold resonates with the outward-looking generation of  ‘new progressives’. Comprising 20- and 30-somethings with a uniquely progressive mindset, they are ambitious, savvy and optimistic, and they make up between 30% and 70% of Tiger Beer’s consumers, depending on the market, says global brand director Sean O’Donnell.


Sean explains why this demographic is important to the brand, “In terms of their consumption behaviour, new progressives across Southeast Asia are highly social and are constantly looking for new and exciting experiences. With the beer category being the largest alcohol beverage category in many of the markets across Southeast Asia, we see the Tiger brand being a large part of their social occasions with friends and family.”


Tiger Beer’s A Bolder Tomorrow Lunar New Year campaign offers an evolution of what it means to be bold. “Because if you're just running towards a bolder tomorrow without stopping and celebrating and sharing it with others, then what's the point? We wanted to remind everyone to celebrate the successes that got them where they are today as the first step towards achieving even bolder ambitions in 2023,” says Sean.


The campaign addressed the psyche of the Gen Z and Millennials in Southeast Asia who are putting so much pressure on themselves to achieve, they aren’t celebrating the wins of today. Based on a research report that Tiger Beer commissioned, conducted by YouGov, findings showed that 90% of Gen Z and Millennial Southeast Asians admit to putting pressure on themselves, while 58% feel pressured to live up to an “impossible standard”.


Using these results as a framing point, Le Pub APAC’s executive creative director Cyril Louis and his team worked with Sean to create a multifaceted campaign with a positive message. 


LBB> What was the brief from Tiger and what key goals were identified? 

Sean> Lunar New Year (LNY) is a crucial moment for every brand in APAC, but it’s a time of year when everyone is fighting for attention. We also see a lot of formulaic approaches to celebrating family and togetherness and new beginnings, so we challenged Le Pub APAC to find a more disruptive way of resonating in culture. We had one clear goal from the start: send a positive and meaningful message for the festive period.



LBB> What were the key factors you wanted to address in each of the components in the integrated campaign? Could you elaborate on their strategic intent?

Cyril> We know people spend the year restlessly chasing a better future. But during LNY, afraid of the wider family's judgement, they build more generic versions of themselves instead of being proud of and sharing their accomplishments and future dreams. 

To literally make people stop and understand why it's so important to be true to your dreams at this time of year, we launched the campaign conversation in a PR-able way by orchestrating a stunt in the middle of Singapore's CBD. 




Our TVC followed the stunt, a film about people so focused on their pursuit of tomorrow they run straight past crucial moments in their life – graduations, victories, dream jobs, promotions and accolades. 


LBB> How did the research results lead you to the creative idea and approach? 

Cyril> To build our campaign, we had to find out what stops people from celebrating. The data collected by YouGov helped us to give visibility to a sensitive topic – the pressures facing younger generations across Asia – to ensure that Tiger's festive campaign resonates in culture, which is what we do at Le Pub APAC: we put brands at the centre of culturally relevant conversations by merging data with creativity.

  

LBB> What were the highlights and challenges of carrying out the activation in downtown Singapore?

Cyril> We aimed to find a place where the message would resonate. A place where people chase success relentlessly and also feel the pressure to conform. No better place than Singapore could offer this, and the highlights were that each person we worked with on this project felt touched by it, and our message resonated with everyone.

 

LBB> What was the brief to the director in approaching the narrative and mood and feel of the film?

Cyril> We wrote a story about multiple protagonists who never looked back, chasing what is next. We used LNY as a beacon to find their way, acknowledge their achievements, and celebrate them with family. The film needed to have a defined balance between being positive in tone and message while talking about a sensitive subject. Also, the tension of our protagonists being trapped in an endless race needed to be palpable for our audience to connect with them emotionally. The brief was about how to solve all the above points; in a nutshell, raise a societal issue positively and enable our audience to cheer for a bolder tomorrow.

 


LBB> The scenes were directed like a high-energy martial arts/action film. It's a direct contrast to the "stop" action of the activation. What makes both a successful combination?

Cyril> Our goal at the film's start was to make the audience feel how many people are running after dreams and goals but always chasing more. We went for many actions to make it visceral and slowed down in parts to reveal the nonsense of such behaviour. For this, the film had to be fast-paced and the filmography very graphic. Post the LNY revelation, when they are confronted with their success, it is altogether a different pace and vibe. A vibe closer to what we did with the stunt where we asked people to stop running and celebrate their achievements by literally stopping time.

  

LBB> Talking about the pursuit of tomorrow, how does this campaign continue to add brand value to Tiger’s future narrative, and how will it influence the way you approach future campaigns?

Sean> Now that we understand the pressures facing ‘new progressives’ in different Asian markets, our communications can be far more nuanced and relevant. Our overarching goal is to embrace data to be more timely and contextual this year. Together with Le Pub APAC, we plan to keep amplifying and accelerating our efforts to connect with consumers through inspiring communications and meaningful actions.


LBB> What are the bold steps that Tiger has in its sights in 2023?

Sean> Last year, Tiger began investing in more experiential and digital campaigns – our first AR filter and 3D billboards, a collection of Tiger NFTs, the recent Tiger Remix music festival. This year, we want to do more of the same. Tiger will continue to invest in brand building, we’ll keep venturing into uncharted territories, and we have some really brilliant product innovation planned.

Credits
Work from Publicis Singapore
#stemthegap
Olay India
11/10/2023
182
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