By Alex C
In its tradition of associating its flagship brand, Foreign Extra Stout, with boldness, confidence and power, Guinness has launched a new campaign which it called ‘Made of Black’ in Nigeria and across some markets in Africa as continuation of its well-thought out proposition to consumers.
The campaign which is part of Made of More drive was conceived to reflect the movement that Guinness is seeing amongst a new generation of adult African consumers, who together, are fuelling a progressive new spirit of Africa. The characters in Made of Black TV commercial depict talents and strengths of real people with boldness and confidence who are being made of black that are adding impetus and promoting the new African spirit.
“These individuals have immense confidence – they are not afraid to express themselves and are carving their own path with a real boldness and imagination. Guinness also embodies this mind set – for over 250 years it has always had the authenticity, boldness and vision to do things differently”, global Guinness brand director, Mark Sandys said.
The new campaign by the multinational company which recently invested £230 million in expanding brewing and warehousing capacity and creating distribution facilities at its breweries in Benin and Lagos, embodies the creative and entrepreneurial spirit that is found within Nigerian consumers, but it also reflects what consumers want and expect from a brand.
To properly situate the campaign of portraying the new African spirit and focusing on new African generation, the campaign featured, among others Phyno, a Nigerian rapper with unique edge who realised his passion for music froan early age and who has always liked to stand out. He was seen talking about his inspirational story and how he is Made of Black throughout the course of the campaign.
Explaining that black is not necessary colour but mind-set and an attitude, Sandys pointed out that ‘Black’ is central to the Guinness iconography and this campaign embodies those who aren’t afraid to express themselves, have the confidence to carve their own path, do things differently and live life to the full.
“Those who are Made of Black are the creative ones, the entrepreneurs, the dancers, the singers, the artists, the dreamers, the doers; people united by their shared creativity and imagination”, Sandys enthused.
On possible confusion between Made of Black and Made of More campaigns, Sandys clarified that the latest campaign is part of the highly successful global Guinness Made of More campaign which has been running for over two years now. The campaign, he said, has been incredibly well-received so far and the different executions that come under the Made of More banner – such as Made of Black – are created to reflect and amplify the different cultures of the markets in which they are aired.
Asked whether the concept of Made of Black is a shift from the resonating Guinness’ message of ‘power’ which Foreign Extra Stout represents, Sandys said boldness, confidence and vision have been central to the Guinness brand for over 250 years and “this thread has run through all of our campaigns with great effect and Made of Black will continue this legacy. With each new campaign we seek to reflect how these values manifest with our consumers – previously this was through expressing power and strength, but we have seen this morph into the desire for unique self-expression and the wish of progress in life whilst making a statement”.