Our Flavour Has No Race
Postobón
Issue 50 | February 2019
Agency
Sancho BBDO
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officers Hugo Corredor, Giovanni Martínez Executive Creative Directors Mario Lagos, Juan David Jaramillo, Diego Almanza Creative Directors Sebastián Cuevas, Andrés Lancheros Copywriters Julián Ochoa, Santiago Gómez, Jhonnathan Triviño Art Director Manuel Bedoya Editors Cristian Sánchez, Ricardo Solano
Production Team
Flare
Date
October 2018
Background
Even though Colombia was one of the most racially diverse countries in the world, there were still serious racism problems, including a neo-nazi movement.
Idea
On October 12th, National Race Day in Colombia, Postobón, the biggest soft drink brand in the country, launched a special edition of its seven iconic sodas. None of the flavours had any colour. Orange Postobón was transparent, apple Postobón was transparent, they were all clear. The labels declared, ‘Our flavour has no race’. People could not judge the bottle by its contents any longer, they had to drink it to know what the flavour was.
Results
The message generated massive interest and huge brand awareness. A few months later, the free media the campaign had attracted got it ranked as a mega-trend on Trend Watching, helping the campaign take off globally.
Our Thoughts
When done properly, cause-related products can both raise awareness and give sales a boost. See Alexander Beer on pages 114 -115 as another example.
25 years ago, cause-related marketing barely existed. Brand owners were nervous about being seen as political but today the reverse seems to be true. Brands that are inactive when it comes to social causes are increasingly seen as irresponsible and irrelevant.
According to Accenture, 63% of consumers prefer to purchase from purpose-driven brands.
Elsewhere, I found Kantar Consulting figures that claim “brands with a high sense of purpose have experienced brand valuation increase of 175% over the last 12 years compared to the median growth rate of 86%.
In other words, ethics equals profits. Clearly.