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Independent Liquor floats down the mainstream with new Ranfurly offerings

Youtube VideoIndependent Liquor’s marketing manager Adam Maxwell, who won the TVNZ-NZ Marketing marketer of the year title a month or so ago, says the company has doubled its beer business in the last two years. And it intends to repeat that performance. Cue the first ever TV campaign for its Ranfurly beer brand and the release of two new mainstream varieties, Ranfurly Frontier Lager and Ranfurly Station Pale Ale.

With NZ Pure, Carlsberg, Kingfisher and a few other beers on its books, Maxwell says the biggest gap in Independent’s portfolio was a no-nonsense mainstream beer. And while he says that sector may be in decline, it’s still “absolutely massive” and makes up around two-thirds of the total beer market.

Established in 1987, the brand is named after the small Otago township of Ranfurly in the Maniototo. But unlike NZ Pure, which was a new beer, the new Ranfurly varieties will have a slightly more difficult task ahead given the reputation of its 440ml canned precursor. Still, the Frontier Lager has been put in a nice looking bottle and Independent’s agency Barnes, Catmur & Friends has taken a quintessentially entertaining, humorous and some might say slightly derivative approach to the advertising, with a spot featuring an array of male hijinks, hot babes and a few other masculine stereotypes to communicate the message of “mateship, occasions and getting the guys together for a good time”.

As well as the TVC, which went to air on Sunday and was shot by Two Birds, Maxwell says there is significant media weight behind the campaign. So, given the large, soon-to-be released, heritage-based DB Export campaign out of Colenso, the big beverage companies obviously believe there’s a bit of life in the old mainstream girl yet.

Agency: Barnes Catmur & Friends
Creative Managing Partner: Paul Catmur
Art director: Carlos Savage/Crispo
Planner: Jonte Goldwater
Account Director: Mike Wilson/Sally Willis
Director: Nicholas Reynolds
Producer: Two Birds
Client: Adam Maxwell/ Sascha d’entrement

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