The Brief

To encourage drinkers to drink water whilst drinking alcohol we created ‘Not Beersies’ the beer that’s water. Supported by a full multi media campaign including, social media, TV, posters and in bar media, we piped cool Not-Beersies water into bars and pubs through specially installed taps, right next to the real beers, right across the country, right where the problem was occurring.

Creative Execution

As we knew we couldn’t actually stop drinkers from drinking we decided to utilize the sobering effects of drinking water in between beers. So we parodied the beer brands they loved and created an actual ‘not’ beer brand, with an actual product and put it directly into their hands. ‘Not Beersies’, the beer that’s water. We launched Not Beersies over an intensive three-month period at the height of summer. The launch included 6x TVC’s, strong social media presence including competitions, promos, numerous billboard/poster executions and in bar media. At the same time we installed Not-Beersies taps in bars and pubs, right next to the real beers, right across the country. The taps themselves becoming mini billboards, sparking conversation right where the problem drinking was occurring.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Our target audience is predominantly males in the 18 to 39 year old age group. They’re big beer drinkers with strong attachments to beer brands and consider drinking water when out on the town socially unacceptable.

Results

Results are looking great. After only a few months in market, 80% of our target market now calls water ‘Not Beersies’ and incredibly the terms been included in both the Urban Dictionary and Collins dictionary. But best of all, nearly a third of 18 to 39 year olds say they’re now drinking more water when drinking alcohol. A significant step forward in making water a socially acceptable choice and changing our nations costly drinking behaviour.