For the past 20 years, Carling Black Label has built its masculinity through epic television ads featuring muscled men in the act of building something, but the brand is moving beyond this with their latest 'Man's Day' campaign.
Brand manager Julian Remba says: "Carling Black Label has built its current success on the unchanging, single-minded proposition that it's a man's beer. Whilst this consistency has enabled the brand to reach new heights, we realised that in an increasingly sophisticated market our communication needed to be taken up a level.
"We needed to find a way to connect with a more sophisticated audience, on a more emotional level. The 'Man's Day' concept is a perfect fit because it does all this without losing what is, for us, the essence of the brand - it's masculinity.
"The 'Man's Day' concept is a perfect fit because it does all this without losing what is, for us, the essence of the brand - it's masculinity."
And so Carling Black Label declared Friday September 16 Man's Day.
The Man's Day campaign kicked off on September 1, to raise awareness around the concept. It included stings in both cinemas and on TV, with print and online executions reminding women that, on Man's Day, the toilet seat stays up.
The tone is light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek, says Remba: "It's not the brand's intention to be sexist or misogynistic."
On Man's Day proper (September 16), Carling Black Label took over the airwaves. Content was tweaked to include gadget guides, stag party advice and the like. Winners of call-in competitions won manly poker tables, and manly experiences.
"The aim of this campaign is to extend Carling Black Label's view of masculinity. We want to show our target audience that, just as their views on what makes you a man may have evolved, so have ours," says Geoff Whyte, Brand Marketing Manager for Mainstream.
"Going forward our objective is to make Carling Black Label a clearer, stronger, brand choice. The intention is to ensure that, at the end of the day, we are all clear about what this brand stands for and what makes it different from all the other alcohol brands on the market."
The Man's Day concept was developed by SAB in conjunction with Ogilvy Cape Town.
