New commercial
for Buckler in Europe
:?8
The production of a commercial, from the very
first brainstorming session to the moment of its
first broadcast, is a time-consuming affair.
Certainly when it involves a commercial which is
going to be used in several countries. The new
commercial for Buckler is the exception to this
rule: the film was ready within six months.
In November 1990 Heineken
announced its decision that, as
was already the case for the
Heineken brand, Buckler advertising
in Europe would also be handled by a
network agency: Lintas. One month
later the first talks were held within
the Buckler European Brand Team
(EBT). Under the leadership of
Buckler global brand manager Gary
de Hertog, representatives of
Heineken's European operating com
panies and export offices in Switzer
land and Belgium prepared a briefing
for the advertising agency.
After that, Lintas called a meeting
in Amsterdam involving creative
teams from its branches in Spain,
France and the Netherlands. Their job
was to translate the briefing into con
cept proposals. Of the eight proposals,
three were presented to the EBT
team. The members were unanimous:
one proposal was streets ahead of the
others.
Tested
The proposal - which had, inciden
tally, been prepared in two variants -
was converted into animaties and test
ed out amongst consumers. The ani
matie, complete with voice-over and
music, was tested in Spain, France,
Italy and Holland.
The tests brought a positive
response, though there were minor
points of criticism from each country.
Almost all of those comments related
to part of the voice-over text and to
shots in the commercial which did not
have an authentic ring for the coun
tries involved. 'A bar in Holland looks
different from one in Spain or Italy. So
you have to take that clearly into
account when shooting the film',
explains Gary den Hertog. Local fac
tors must also be borne in mind when
making shots of the bottle. The
Spanish word for alcohol-free ('Sin')
should obviously not be visible in a
French or Italian version of the com
mercial. And so allowance was made
for local circumstances without
infringing on the concept of the com
mercial or compromising on the
essential message. Ultimately eight
versions of the film were produced.
The French version set the ball rolling
with its first airing in June this year.
The other countries will follow in the
autumn.
Hero
The commercial tells the story of a
writer fantasising about a woman and
to complement his fantasy he enjoys a
Buckler beer. The story line unravels
through the eyes of the writer who
'invents' his ideal scenario as he
writes. The hero of the story is
Buckler beer.
This commercial is targeted at
men and women in the 25-45 age
group who appreciate the taste of
beer, are active and dynamic and
enjoy the good things in life.
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
