Title	THE LEGALLY BINDING BEER CONTRACT
Brand	SPENDRUPS
Product/Service	NORRLANDS GULD
Category	A01. Data & Analytics & Insight
Entrant	ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Media Placement	STARCOM Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR	ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production	MAKING WAVES Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production 2	BKRY Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Martin Noreby	Åkestam Holst NoA	Art Director
Joakim Khoury	Åkestam Holst NoA	Art Director
Daniel Vaccino	Åkestam Holst NoA	Copywriter
Magnus Jakobsson	Åkestam Holst NoA	Creative Director
Bella Lagerquist	Åkestam Holst NoA	Account Manager
Fredrik Burman	Åkestam Holst NoA	Account Director
Anna Forsberg	BKRY NoA	Final art

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

The Legally Binding Beer Contract was created in the strategic intersection between a human insight and a technological insight. The human insight was the tendency for people to say ”Let’s have a beer sometime”, ”Let’s have a drink soon” and either never following up on the original promise, or bailing at the last minute. The technological insight was the increasingly convenient ways of signing complicated legal documents on your mobile phone, that are growing more common in Sweden. Together, we turned these insights into a strategically innovative and commercially powerful campaign - to make the promise to have a beer

Background

Norrlands Guld is the beer market leader in Sweden, struggling with the challenge of how to continue driving growth. With a new take on their brand heritage, ”Be together for a moment”, the brand has challenged people to spend more time together, and prioritize human relationships over technology. We were tasked with the challenge of finding a disruptive way to drive business, make more people drink beer more often (grow the market) and choose Norrlands when they did (brand preference).

Interpretation (30% of vote)

Norrlands Guld faces the business challenge of growing in a stable category where for many they are already the preferred choice. From previous research, we know that a key volume driver for beer is the association with the community - ”a beer you’d drink together with friends”. This is also the reason why Norrlands has built its brand concept around the idea of encouraging togetherness, and making people prioritize real time with their friends over devices, streaming services and gaming, to name a few. The desired outcome was to find new ways to associate Norrlands with time spent together, in a playful and provocative way, to drive sales.

Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

The strategic process combined driver analysis - what brand associations drove volume and price premium - with a collaborative exploration of Norrland’s brand territory ”togetherness” and its meaning in the digital age. The insight came when the team discussed the idea of ”missed beers” - all the idle promises to ”have a beer” that were canceled at the last minute, or never followed through on. What if we could make those missed beers happen? The breakthrough moment came when we realized the solution was hidden in the problem. Digital technology is the enemy of beer - it makes people opt to stay home instead of heading out for drinks. But it also provides new tools to create commitment. In Sweden, over 80% of the population has BankID, an e-Identity-card that makes it easy to pay bills and sign legal contracts remotely. What if we could make beer promises legally binding?

Creative Idea (20% of vote)

We created The Legally Binding Beer Contract - an integrated campaign centered around a digital beer contract, where breaking the contract led to a legal fine and potentially a day in court. Working from the insights and the idea of ”togetherness” the campaign was designed to be a social challenge, encouraging friends to call each other out, tag each other and make time to actually have a beer. We wanted to create engagement and discussion around the idea of having a beer together more often, and gently strengthen the social stigma around canceling plans to meet your friends. The campaign was realized in TVCs, outdoor, print mock advertorials, social media and of course PR - showing our target group that you either make time to meet your friends in real life, or you might end up seeing them in court.

Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

During its 6-week campaign run, The Legally Binding Beer Contract became one of Sweden’s most shared topics and charmed the worldwide press as well with features in ABC News, Unilad, Global Legal Post, Beer Bible, and many others. Brand mentions online went up 390 % as everyone seemed to have at least one notorious bailer-friend, who needed to be handed a contract. Before closing time, over 30 000 Beer Contracts were signed and over 200 000 visited the mobile website - helping to rocket sales into a 19 % increase compared to the previous year. Results in short: 30 000 signed Beer Contracts 200 000 unique visits to the website 390% increase in brand mentions online 19% increase in beer sales compared to last year ”Let’s have a beer” is now synonymous with the Norrlands Guld brand in Sweden