What happens when advertising creatives fed up with gender inequality brainstorm a creative way to draw attention to the problem? In Brazil, what happens is Cerveja Feminista, or Feminist Beer. And it’s our IMC campaign of the month.
In Brazil, 65% of women feel they are not represented by ads and a mere 10% of advertising creatives are female. Inspired by this, the creators behind Cerveja Feminista also founded the activism group 65|10 to work in tandem with the beer to raise awareness and combat inequality in their country.
Cerveja Feminista is a brilliant example of cause marketing though its motives are more altruistic than profit-driven. It’s also a strong example of good branding, careful audience analysis, clever advertising, public relations and social media working in an integrated fashion.
As one would expect from a group of creatives, the beer itself is well branded down to the color of the ale inside the bottle – an Irish red, chosen because red is the color associated with social causes. Plus, red ale falls between the typically “male” dark beers and “female” pale beers. It’s intended to attract both genders equally, showing an understanding of ideal buyers that is the cornerstone of good IMC.
The logo is simple and hip, appealing to the current generation of savvy beer drinkers. What’s more, the actual idea of choosing beer as the product to highlight 65|10’s cause is extremely smart. There are few things as stereotypically sexist as beer ads. That Cerveja Feminista hits hard at a market saturated with big brands targeting a largely male audience with demeaning messages about women is a bold move, and one that’s garnering a lot of media attention.
What’s more, Cerveja Feminista’s creators are banking on the fact that the beer’s label itself will spark meaningful discussion about gender inequality. One of the founders, Thais Fabris, explained to Co.Exist, “Our hope is that, once you put a beer on the table with ‘Feminist’ written on it, people will have no other subject to discuss.”
Earned media is plentiful for Cerveja Feminista, even at this early stage of production. Although it’s not the first beer in the world to label itself as feminist, it appears to be the first with such a strong activism component. This draws in not only beer drinkers, but those who care about the feminist cause. This means media in activism, the food and beverage industry and marketing, advertising and business have been reporting on Cerveja Feminista far and wide. Although it’s a Brazilian product, the reach is already global, thanks to the border-busting power of online publishing. The beer racked up almost 4 dozen hits internationally fast in the wake of its initial discovery in March, 2015, with outlets like Fast Company, The Huffington Post and The Independent covering the story.
The 65|10 social media is a study in facts about sex in advertising as well as news about the beer and 65|10’s activism. Additionally, 65|10 takes the offline concept of socializing seriously, promoting the beer and its mission through outreach like workshops about women in advertising at industry events.
What makes Cerveja Feminista so fascinating to us at Wax is the long, hard look its creators took at its target audience and how to reach them with a message they felt is important to hear. We’ve talked a lot about knowing your buyer, but knowing the right messaging to say to your buyer is essential, too. Combined with strong branding and a growing marketing strategy, Cerveja Feminista is positioned well to capture and maintain more global interest for the beer and 65|10 as its production continues.
We also love the moxie of a small label beer taking on the big brands and the advertising that’s worked for them – sexist and all – for so long. We’ll be watching this one with interest!
