BBDO Worldwide is launching its first work for Bacardi since being tasked with creative this April following the brand’s decision to consolidate creative and media for all of its brands (Bacardi had formerly worked with a wide range of agencies for its creative accounts). The campaign launches with a broadcast spot debuting today and will roll out globally next year.
Like many liquor brands with a history that stretches back beyond the 20th century, celebrating the company’s heritage has long been a staple of Bacardi’s advertising. The brand leaned very heavily on its history, for example, with its 2013 “¡Vivimos!” campaign. But while it retains the “Bacardi Untameable Since 1862” line, BBDO’s new effort breaks from that tradition.
Instead, the 30-second “The Truck” depicts a crazy house party with a twist…the house in question is being towed by a truck. Beginning with two friends shouting for a third to run and catch up to the truck as it’s pulling people away, the party gradually swells, as BBDO also manages to work in a shot of Bacardi bottles chilling in a bathtub full of ice. The new tagline “There’s Nothing in the Way” precedes the brand’s long-running “Bacardi Untameable Since 1862” at the conclusion of the ad. Obviously an attempt to appeal to younger audiences in the face of lagging sales, “The Truck” is quite the departure for the brand, supplanting its typical celebration of its history with an ode to reckless partying. But don’t expect the brand to completely neglect its heritage.
Mauricio Vergara, Bacardi Limited’s chief marketing officer for North America and the global lead for the Bacardi brand, told AdAge that Bacardi won’t completely abandon that approach going forward but “It cannot be the only message. That cannot be what we build a brand. “The idea has to be something that resonates with the consumer and they can relate to.”
“The Truck” will run on programming including SportsCenter, Jimmy Kimmel Live and American Horror Story: Hotel. The ad will be supported with a Vice Media sponsored content partnership spotlighting the “passion projects” of musicians including hip-hop duo Run the Jewels and a social media element including ads utilizing Facebook’s new mobile ad format. Beginning on October 31st the brand will roll out a “House Party Tour” featuring a mobile house stopping in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami, from which BBDO and Bacardi will mine content for promotion on social media. While Vergara declined to mention specific spending totals, he stated the brand’s spending on the campaign is “way, way above what we have done in previous years.”
Client: Bacardi
Head of Creative Excellence: Zara Mirza]
Senior Executive Producer: Peter Friedman
Agency: BBDO NY
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Danilo Boer
Senior Creative Director: Matthew Brink
Senior Creative Director: Adam Livesey
Copywriter: Danilo Boer
Copywriter: Roberto Danino
Art Director: Danilo Boer
Art Director: Danny Adrian
Group Planning Director: Gordon Mclean
Head of Communications Planning: Julian Cole
Communications Planner: Cody Levine
Senior Acct Director: Justin Zerrenner
Acct Manager: Josh Goodman
Acct Executive: Lindsay Vellines
Acct Executive: Alexa Rice
Director of Integrated Production: Dave Rolfe
Global Executive Producer: Angelo Ferrugia
Executive Music Producer- Rani Vaz
Marketing Arm (Music Negotiation) – Brad Sheehan
Business Affairs: Shelly Bloch
Head of Art & Design: Danilo Boer
Iconoclast
Director: Megaforce
Executive Producer – Charles-Marie Anthonioz
Senior Line Producer -Bridgitee Pugh
DOP: Alexis Zabe
The Mill- NY
VFX supervisor / 2D lead: Ilia Mokhtareizadeh
VFX supervisor / 3D lead: Olivier Varteressian
VFX producer:Eliana Carranza-Pitcher
2D artists: Blake Druery, Dae Yoon Kang, Ben Kwok and Sam Caine
3D artists:Laurent Giaume, Tim Kim, Ivan Joy, Claire Chang
Colorist: Fergus McCall
WORK Editorial NY
Editor: Neil Smith
Executive Producer: Jane Dilworth
Senior Producer: Sari Resnick
Cutting Assistant: Adam Witten
Barking Owl- Sound Design
Creative Director – Kelly Bayett
Sound Designer – Rommel Molina
Associate Producer – Ashley Benton
Music-
John Wood – “Born to Wonder”