Title	SAPERUS DOCUMENTARY
Brand	DIAGEO
Product/Service	GUINNESS
Category	A02. NON-FICTION: SERIES OR FILM
Entrant Company	AMV BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM
Contributing Company	AMV BBDO London, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Agency	CARAT London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Paul Brazier	AMVBBDO	Executive Creative Director
Dave Buchanan	AMVBBDO	Creative Director
Nicholas Hulley	AMVBBDO	Copywriter
Nadja Lossgott	AMVBBDO	Art Director
Yvonne Clayton	AMVBBDO	Agency Producer
Hector Mediavilla	Stillking	Director
Rudi Rossouw	Stillking	Producer
Craig Alsop	Stillking	Dop Lighting Cameraman
Russ Clapham	Russ Clapham	Editing Company
Russ Clapham	Russ Clapham	Editor
The Mill	The Mill	Post Production
Wave	Wave	Sound Studio
Parv Thind	Wave	Sound Engineer
Dugal Macdiarmid	Wave	Sound Engineer

The Campaign

There has been an explosion of branded entertainment/content in the UK and Ireland over the last number of years. There are heavy restrictions on what can be done in the form of branded entertainment on television but the online media environment has matured ensuring that there are now many more opportunities to drive branded content at scale in the UK and Ireland. However, whilst branded entertainment is produced in its droves, it is a fair observation to make that not all of it is produced with the craft and attention to ensure that it is watched, loved, enjoyed and shared. There are few examples of branded entertainment campaigns in the UK and Ireland than can be held up as an exemplar of great content that can be truly considered to have successfully landed in culture.

Results

Objective & Challenge The brief for the campaign was to create the next round of work in the Guinness ‘Made of More’ Campaign for the UK and Irish market. Strategy Guinness celebrates people who show exceptional integrity and character and who refuse to be defined by their circumstances. The Execution Building on the existing 'Made of More' campaign, Guinness continues to celebrate people with integrity and character as we introduce a group of extraordinary men from Congo-Brazzaville: The Sapeurs (La Société de Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes - The Society of Elegant Persons). These men, who wear incredible suits in stark contrast to their surroundings, embody a universal truth. In life, we all have a choice. We can let circumstance define us, or we can defy it. In this documentary, Spanish photographer Héctor Mediavilla illustrates the brightly coloured and social affairs that bring the 'Sapeurs' together. Their bold choice to live an unexpected lifestyle is a source of celebrated originality and positivity. The Sapeurs’ life is not defined by occupation or wealth, but by respect, a moral code and an inspirational display of flair and creativity. The entire documentary was shot in Congo – Brazzaville, a war torn country emerging from a decades long civil war, so when the production requires “street casting in the Congo” you know it’s a challenge. Especially when experts warned we should be in and out in 48 hours. But we wanted to be authentic and use real Sapuers. We sent a guerilla crew to live with the Sapeurs. After street casting, we shot our documentary, under the radar, with real Sapeurs on the streets of Brazzaville.

The audience was drawn to the Guinness Sapeurs’ documentary in a number of ways. Firstly, it focuses on a real group of extraordinary men from war torn Congo, who wear incredible suits in stark contrast to their surroundings. These inspirational men piqued the interest of our target therefore drawing a large audience to the content to find out more. Secondly, the documentary was played in cinemas before the beginning of big movies. It was played as a ‘movie short’ before the main event. Finally, people were driven to the content on YouTube in various ways including a TV ad, paid for advertising, PR and media partnerships with the likes of the Guardian and Slate magazine.

4. Outcome Whilst it is still very early days in the campaign, the indicative results indicate that the Sapeurs’ documentary and campaign has been a huge success. - Thus far, the documentary has been enjoyed by 2 million people (1.6 million people online). - Guinness sales and marketing teams were inundated with calls from pub owners across Ireland and the UK requesting permission to hold their very own ‘Sapeurs nights in pubs’. - Numerous groups including a Dublin City University’s fashion society have parodied the campaign. - Creatively the documentary has won awards at the British Arrows and the Grand Award in the Branded Entertainment section at the New York Festival. - Early results have seen Guinness grow their share by 1.2% (a huge amount for the beer category)