BRAND:
BIA SAIGON EXPORT PREMIUM
AWARD CATEGORY:
The Best Influencer Strategy
CAMPAIGN TIME RANGE:
16/05/2023 - 31/12/2023
CREDITS:
T&A Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather Vietnam, EssenceMediacom
CASE STUDY VIDEO
STRATEGY
For Bia Saigon, Bia Saigon Export is a legendary pride, marking the beginning of a golden age for the brand, especially in the West and Southeast regions. However, as time goes on, Bia Saigon Export's outdated image and lack of youthful personality make it familiar only to the older generations, and no longer resonates with today's modern young drinkers. This has led to Bia Saigon Export becoming a share laggard in the Westside - the very region where it once dominated.
In this context, Bia Saigon aimed to recapture its golden age in the Westside through a relaunch campaign for Bia Saigon Export Premium. They began by refreshing its iconic bold taste and the brand's image with a modern look, making it more appealing to young drinkers. But they knew a new bold taste and a fresh coat of paint were not enough.
The true challenge lay in identifying a strong regional insight that could resonate with the diverse generations of Westside consumers, especially the young. This insight would be crucial for forging a deep connection and reigniting Bia Saigon Export's success.
INSIGHT
People of the Westside are known for their unique “boldness” (Chất) in many aspects of life: Bold food (daring dishes like worm-infused delicacies), Bold fun (hospital & drinking beer and wine everywhere possible, including rice fields), and their Bold fashion (gold adorned head-to-toe). These bold expressions all contribute to the unique and vibrant tapestry of the Western personality. And above all, Westerners appreciate those who truly understand and cherish their boldness. To truly connect with them, embrace their adventurous spirit and celebrate their unapologetic authenticity.
CREATIVE IDEA
Humanize Bia Saigon Export into a living person with bold personalities of Westside people to embody the bold taste of Bia Saigon Export. With that idea, using KOLs as the human version of Bia Saigon Export is the most suitable and prioritized solution.
Moving beyond traditional influencer marketing that uses KOLs merely as a tool for spreading awareness, we strategically partnered with KOLs who share the same values and personalities with our product to forge a meaningful connection between product and consumer. Moreover, because personality is something intangible and very difficult to showcase, the brand needed to build a content strategy for KOLs to make those intangible personalities tangible for Westside people to understand. Then, the brand chose Le Duong Bao Lam, a beloved Westside KOL known for his bold personality, as their brand ambassador under the new name: Mr. Bold
CONNECTION PLAN
This collaboration unfolded in three key phases:
PHASE 1: SHOUTOUT TO MR.BOLD FROM THE WEST
At the awareness phase, we started with Le Duong Bao Lam and leveraged his organic social media reach across Facebook and Tiktok. Le Duong Bao Lam, disguised as "Mr. Bold”, appeared in the distinctive outlook of the West with “Ao ba ba” and “Khan ran” on a hidden camera video. Those hidden videos featuring Mr. Bold quickly went viral, unintentionally associating Saigon Beer with Western boldness. Soon, Le Duong Bao Lam -Mr. Bold officially announced his online series set in the West, further amplifying the connection.
PHASE 2: LIVE THE BOLD WESTSIDE LIFE LIKE MR.BOLD
Continuing to accelerate organic reach and amplify cultural relevance, we partnered with high-engagement communities specific to Westside and Southeastern regions to build excitement for Le Duong Bao Lam’s upcoming series.
To define the intangible "Bold Westside Signatures” of everyday life in the Mekong Delta, Mr. Bold Le Duong Bao Lam embarked on a 3 episodes online content series, including: BOLD FOOD, BOLD GATHERING, and BOLD FUN. This content series showcased Bia Saigon as the beer of choice for those living life boldly in the region.
Inspired by Mr. Bold Le Duong Bao Lam's series, a number of KOLs, communities, and PR shared the interesting and humorous moments of him when he pursued a bold lifestyle. Besides , it triggered Westside consumers' regional pride and make follow Mr. Bold to share it with my friends
PHASE 3: BECOME YOUR OWN MR.BOLD
Mr. Bold wasn't just online. He ambushed outlets, challenging fans to perform bold Westside acts. AI technology took "Mr. Chat AI - Le Duong Bao Lam" to nearly 395 outlets as an AI greeter. This innovative initiative by Bia Saigon not only helped boost sales for the outlets but also won the hearts of the local business community.
By strategically leveraging Le Duong Bao Lam's bold persona across phases, Bia Saigon successfully connected with the Mekong Delta market. From sparking curiosity to celebrating regional pride and encouraging personal boldness, the campaign solidified Bia Saigon Export as the beer of choice for those who live life to the fullest, Westside style.
OBJECTIVE-BASE KPI
In a short period of 3 months, the campaign exceeded expectations with metrics as followed:
1/ Brand Health Check
Increase brand awareness metric of Bia Saigon Export Premium in Westside, especially Can Tho get 68%
46% of Westside people have tried this product (this rate is calculated in a total of 5 cities: HCM, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Can Tho)
2/ Quality Buzz Generated
- Social Buzz: 30.444 Buzz
- With 11.1% UGC Buzz from TikTok
3/ Sales Result Uplift:
Massive boost on sales on outlets:
The average growth rate from July to December 2023 of the product (after launching) throughout Vietnam is 80%, in the Hau River area is 360% (An Giang, Can Tho, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Soc Trang) – according to Nielsen Retail Measurement data.
