Dos Equis Campaign Analysis

Dos Equis

Ad campaign Analysis

Havas worldwide

The most interesting man in the world

Holly Wampler

Media Presence

Television http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34477032/pommel-horse/dos-equis

Print

Social Media

http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34495370/dogsled/dos-equis

Events

http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34515130/masquerade-with-oculus-rift/dos-e quis

Agency Overview

Havas Worldwide New York, New York

11, 000 employees in 75 countries

Clients

Awards

Pay Pal Keurig Lacoste Durex IKEA McDonald’s

London International International ANDY Cresta Awards Cannes Lions Festival

Reputation Strong agency for fully integrated, creative campaigns that will make meaningful connections with consumers

Specialization Advertising, integrated marketing, corporate communications, design, and social media

Brand dilemma

In 2006, Heineken wanted Dos Equis to stand out amongst an overcrowded beer market.

However, Dos Equis was a smaller beer brand that was mostly known in Mexico and just starting to gain recognition amonst college students in southwestern states such as Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. The Dos Equis brand needed to be reintroduced with a campaign that built a unique brand identity.

Target audience Demographics

Psychographics

Young male drinkers

Wanted to be perceived as interesting and sophisicated by peers

Aged 21 to 35

Feared becoming boring and unattractive with old age

Fickle alcohol selection behavior

Empathy Showed an in depth understanding of consumer’s interests and how they wanted to be perceived as men

Felt misrepresented by advertisers when they assumed they were party animals who only care about women and alcohol

Connection Addressed both the audience’s desires and fears

creative strategy Havas used three key words to anchor the campaign

Adventure

Danger

Excitement

Positioning

Big Idea

Character

Position brand as the exotic & mysterious side of Mexican culture to stand out against the beaches and bikinis in other beer ads

You will be a more interesting person and you will appear more sophisicated to peers in social situations if you drink Dos Equis

Create The Most Interesting Man as a suave, worldy protagonist that the target audience will aspire to emulate instead of perceive as a threat

brand character Casted older, relatively unknown actor Johnathan Goldsmith in order to avoid the risk of the actor falling out of favor or falling victim to scandal that could harm the brand.

Memorable creative devices: “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, it’s Dos Equis.”

“Stay thirsty, my friends.”

Goldsmith’s ambivalence doesn’t create a blatant call to action, but stays faithful to the suave character and entices consumers The Most Interesting Man is always portrayed on exotic adventures with interesting people and identified with humorous phrases that characterize him as unique, debonair, and admirable.

“He lives vicariously through himself” “If he were to pat you on the back, you would put it on your resume” “He once had an awkward moment to see what it felt like” “His blood smells like cologne”

campaign development

To further develop the campaign and The Most Interesting Man’s character, Dos Equis developed two subthemes to maintain audience interest. The brand leveraged the Mexican culture and drinking habits surrounding Cinco de Mayo to promote Dos Equis. Dos Equis created The Most Interesting Masquerade Party as another subtheme. However, they also hosted an actual masquerade party and an interactive virtual experience simulator for special events. http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34493638/dos-de-mayo/dos-equis http://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34505491/dos-equis-masquerade-trailer/dos-equis

Campaign development

Dos Equis incorporated audience participation intiatives to expand the campaign and encourage brand fans to connect to the brand on a more personal level.

The Most Interesting Academy was a curated educational resource that featured information on unique tutorials and adventure inspiration. Fans could also apply to be The Most Interesting Man’s personal assistant where they could be featured in advertisements and given $2,500.

rational benefits

Dos Equis is a Mexican import beer that would be a change in routine for the consumer amongst the domestic and European import options.

emotional benefits

Due to the positioning and the creative strategy, Dos Equis drinkers would primarily receive emotional benefits from purchasing and consuming the product.

Consumers may feel more cultured and confident in both themselves and their social presence while drinking the import beer.

success measurements

Sales Increase - Overall sales increased 30% since 2007 launch - Sales tripled in Canada during 2008 - Shipped 116% more barrels in 2013 compared to 2008 - In 2013, Dos Equis’ market share jumped 25%, increasing Heineken’s market share 3.9% in volume

Brand Exposure & Recognition - Became 6th best selling import beer - First beer brand to reach 1 million likes on Facebook - 69.7k Twitter followers - 26.7k Instagram followers

success measurements

The Most Interesting Man went viral, and the iconic phrasal template became a meme where brand fans could express themselves and make creative variations on social media, all while connecting to the brand and promoting Dos Equis to their individual networks.

Responsibility

In my personal opinion, I really enjoy both the campaign and the character.

For a beer brand, I think they do a great job of walking the fine line of social responsibility and humor. The brand promotes adventure and sophisication instead of recklessness and debauchery.

It’s also a very welcome change of pace from the typical frat party feel of other alcohol brands.

improvement suggestions

The campaign is extremely well crafted and calibrated to the target audience and fully integrated through many channels, so I think it was incredibly well done and executed. Since the campaign has been around for so long and still exists in 2015, I would suggest they continue with subthemes to keep audiences interested and engaged.