The recently launched Red Stripe “Bear” Campaign is generating quite a bit of a firestorm in the social media space and in the real world. At the heart of the debate is what many feel is a clear sign that the  company has abandoned its core market is favour of a market segment many find hard to define and identify.

the most recent article was written by Sandor Panton in his blog sandorpanton.com. http://www.sandorpanton.com/red-stripes-bear-campaign/#.TkxMuNFEBx8.facebook.

As would be expected with a subject matter like this the comments started to flood in – here is a sample of some of them starting with an extract from Sandor original article.

My problem with Red Stripe’s BEAR campaign is mainly about the concept. Yes, they’re doing a play on words, but there are no ‘bears’ in Jamaica, so that makes it seem a bit ridiculous [it’s possible though, that this was in fact their intention], and they also incorporate other non-Jamaican elements (such as the S.W.A.T. team). Red Stripe is ‘our beer’, a global Jamaican brand, but there’s nothing ‘Jamaican’ about this BEAR campaign, and I don’t think there’s anything about it that’s going to make the tens of thousands of beer drinkers who switched to Magnum and other beverages switch back to  Red Stripe.

In my opinion, what they really need to be doing is reconnecting with the music-loving audience in Jamaica, the same audience that they said goodbye to back in 2008 when they made the decision to stop sponsoring live music events in Jamaica (because of negative and worrying trends in Jamaican music). It was around that time, that Magnum et al seized the moment, becoming more prominent and naturally, started biting into Red Stripe’s market share. Red Stripe apparently realized the folly of this move, and started sponsoring live local music events again last year, but is it too little too late?

Add to that, the fact that recent market surveys reportedly show that young people (a core target market for alcoholic beverage companies) in Jamaica view beer as a drink for older adults (like their fathers and uncles). Apparently it’s not ‘cool’ to drink beer in Jamaica these days, so do you think that this BEAR will help to make it ‘cool’ to drink beer again?

sandorpanton.com

Wonderful perspective.. I must agree that the execution is good…but the concept fails on so many levels, and besides from catalysing the attention of a few internet savvy Jamaicans, we are yet to see how this campaign re-connects Red Stripe with the BUYING Market… which if they look at thier numbers took an instant nose dive WORLDWIDE, when they disassociated themselves with Reggae Music…

Recently Coca Cola, who is also the first brand to use a Bear… has taken an initiative to become a “Music Brand”.. starting with a new label to showcase NEW artistes..

With that in mind I think beer needs to take an example from the soda….

#Thatisall

After seeing the smash hit of a campaign that this has been, I went in search of other comments on the net. Thankfully i found someone who has done a quite wordy analysis of this. Your analysis though, my friend, falls quite short.

This campaign is buzzing around all circles that i’m in (and i’ve been around ☺) as the best concept and execution EVER seen in Jamaica’s advertising history. a quick look on the facebook page of the campaign shows a growth of about 2,000 fans within 2 days of launch. i checked through the comments and the ones that I see seems to be positive :s; persons are refering to the concept and execution as “einsteinic”. I wonder id 2,000 persons in the digital space are stupid? :s

Your figures are also off. The total YouTube video views of the channel since it went live are 1,177 views. As an internet marketer, you should know better (and i hope you learn) that you can never compare the viral effect of current affairs (CliffTwang) to a brand’s advertising campaign. If a fair analysis is done of any other recent (or otherwise) Jamaican campaigns (pleeeeeaaasssseeee let me not call any names), you will notice that no one has had this effect.

The twitter mentions about the break in is also something that seems strange to come from a social marketer. Social media is not only about twitter and facebook mentions. Tech data lesson time: Jamaica has about 100,000 ACTIVE blackberry users, ie persons who use the BlackBerry Internet service on a regular basis (source, Digicel and extrapolation based on market share). On the day of the “break in”, my wife and child were very worried about my safety because of me having to pass Spanish Town road to go home. I wish i still had the windows up of broadcast messages i received on the day! It was ridiculous. That combined with a little thing called WORD OF MOUTH is what needs to be combined with internet buzz to measure what the effect was, and in my humble opinion (although i dont have an “internet marketing blog”) the buzz was pretty OK.
*whew* i think i’m writing a lot, but let’s continue….

I agree with some of your points though. The thing in Mandeville baffles me :s

Advertising in Jamaica, for too long (like forever) has been too mundane and BORING. I salute Red Stripe for this breakthrough concept. It was not perfect, but what are we comparing this to? Surely nothing that has ever been done here before with the Jingles and dance routines and all-around non-creative ads. I think as a people, we have become too used to mediocrity; it permeates our society. But that’s for another blog. When we see a campaign of a Bear in Jamaica, we immediately respond with ridiculing it, asking if any Bear is in Jamaica. Seriously!? When Geico (USA) was establishing their campaign of a lizard found in Australia being their spokesperson (let me repeat, it’s a lizard from down-under that STANDS and SPEAK in a british accent!), what were they thinking?! Come on guys, lighten up! Of course there is no bear in Jamaica! But the thing is still fun. Others are finding it funny and joining the conversation, laughing along, maybe you all need to as well…
All that said, I hope the persons who are involved in this campaign sees this post on your blog. Kudos to your efforts. I think you have raised the bar in creative conceptualization and especially social marketing.
A true measure of a campaign is how the CONSUMERS react to it, in general. And we love it! So please don’t let the comments of a few unimaginative archaic marketers stop you.

Writer of the blog: next time dude, wait a little bit more before you do an analysis of a brand campaign…$0.02

to see the other comments go to

http://www.sandorpanton.com/red-stripes-bear-campaign/#.TkxMuNFEBx8.facebook