Sammy tickles taste buds for Light roll out

<p>HONG KONG: San Miguel has rolled out a light variant, complete with </p><p>a provocative cartoon icon, in a move to develop its share of a largely </p><p>untapped segment of the beer market. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The multi-million dollar San Miguel Light campaign has been created to </p><p>generate "new excitement in the category", with the market leading brand </p><p>looking to expand its reach among younger beer drinkers. The campaign </p><p>has 12 short and snappy executions for television, featuring Sammy the </p><p>icon in a series of wacky situations. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong managing director, Mike Wong, said: "The </p><p>cartoon series talks to the young and young at heart about that little </p><p>bit of naughtiness inside each one of us that needs to be unleashed." </p><p>The fun and naughty elements of the brand are made clear in the </p><p>variant's "A little bit wild" tagline, said Wong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The series of wacky scenarios has Sammy flicking the light switch in a </p><p>woman's toilet on and off and a lifetime learning scenario where he's </p><p>reading a lad's magazine. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With the brand aiming to reach younger drinkers, Wong believes the </p><p>over-the-top scenarios and use of cartoons will have greater appeal to a </p><p>demographic segment, which enjoys "visual and spontaneous </p><p>communications". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Wong said: "Using cartoon characters - like Popeye and Brutus - allows </p><p>us to be more playful with the brand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The category needed some fresh excitement. Beer brands can't keep </p><p>coming up with the same formula given the demands from other beverage </p><p>choices." O&M has developed a range of creative scenarios for a variety </p><p>of channels, ranging from television commercials, karaoke monitors, </p><p>cable, outlets, outdoor and merchandising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It's the beer business and of course outlet presence is as criticial as </p><p>a television commercial," Wong said, pointing to provocative T-shirts </p><p>"for the brave ones to wear", stickers and even a facial tattoo of the </p><p>icon. "We've tried to expand to all relevant points of contact creating </p><p>location-special executions of this campaign," Wong said, pointing to a </p><p>stronger brand presence in youth centres like Hong Kong's Mongkok </p><p>district. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For the television launch, media agency MindShare booked three sandwich </p><p>spots for greater impact. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The campaigns marks the first product creative O&M has rolled out for </p><p>San Miguel since taking the account away from J. Walter Thompson earlier </p><p>in the year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JWT had engineered the brand's successful image revamp in the mid-90s </p><p>through the "Take a fresh look" repositioning. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In its first-ever tactical campaign for the brand, O&M did however </p><p>retain San Miguel's "fresh look" positioning to announce the beer </p><p>maker's decision not to raise retail prices due to a tax slapped on low </p><p>alcohol drinks in this year's budget. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hong Kong's obscenity-spewing local rock band LMF, who took over from </p><p>clean-cut local celebrity Tony Leung as San Miguel's frontman late last </p><p>year, fronted the tax campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>