When Christchurch-based brewery The Fermentist (owned by Lion) launched their Kiwi Pale Ale as NZ’s first CarboNZero certified beer earlier this year, Thrive was charged with spreading the word!
The Fermentist were launching the country’s only carbon neutral beer, so we decided to spread the word with another NZ first - tapping into the global phenomenon of ASMR. Pioneering the trend for big Kiwi brands in NZ gave this unique content experience extensive ‘talkability factor’ which drove Thrive’s media relations strategy around the beer’s launch.
ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) is the viral cult trend that has the internet hooked around the world on its sense-tingling, deep relaxation sensory effects, as non-vocal, ambient noise plays with the listener’s stereo perception. As a global trend, it’s huge… and it’s growing fast. So our idea was to create a visual ASMR content piece which traced The Fermentist’s Kiwi Pale Ale’s journey to becoming carbon neutral, including:
Sounds of the brewing - pouring, sloshing, steaming
Sounds of the canning process
Sounds of the trucks transporting the kegs to the brewery
Sounds of the beer being served - pouring, glass clinking
Sounds of the carbon being offset at Hinewai Reserve - dirt being dug, raindrops on trees, birds chirping
The ASMR content piece, created by Auckland creative studio Swish, was designed to give drinkers a meditative moment of taste, sight and sound, an immersive sensory experience to be had when sipping the KPA - an experience that encourages Kiwis to think about the journey the beer has been on to get from harvest to hand, to achieving it’s carboNZero certification.
Enjoy the experience for yourself here.
Thrive’s media relations campaign used the ASMR content experience as a driver for national media coverage, positioning Lion as first movers at the forefront of sustainability. We delivered a total reach of over 11 million, and sales of Kiwi Pale Ale were off to a strong start!
In fact, hot on the heels of the ASMR launch, The Fermentist had it’s best sales month since opening, eclipsing it’s previous best month results by 30%. Sales of Kiwi Pale Ale continue to grow both on premise at The Fermentist and being stocked in new bars each week since launch. We’ll drink to that!