Drinks ads have triumphed at the 2020 Effie Awards, with Beam Suntory taking out Gold for “How Canadian Club became the boss of summer”.

The ad, created by The Monkeys, also won the overall Return on Investment award with “How Canadian Club’s Greatest Challenge delivered its Greatest ROI”.

The virtual Effie Awards Show was held on October 30, with a total of 88 finalists from 24 agencies on behalf of 36 clients vying for Australia’s most respected advertising awards across 26 categories, following rigorous judging by a team of 50 senior marketers, consultants and researchers. 

“Once again this year we’ve seen how the power of great creative ideas can translate into outstanding commercial success stories,” said Mark Green, chairman of the Advertising Council Australia.

“And with the onset of an Australian recession in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the Effies have taken on even more significance as agencies and clients deal with the increasing challenge of making sure every advertising dollar contributes to driving the bottom line. More than ever, all the winners and finalists deserve huge congratulations.”

Chiara Manco at Warc writes: “In a summer season dominated by beer, whiskey brand Canadian Club looked to reinvigorate sales of its ready-to-drink (RTD) variant. But taking on beer would not be easy: beer advertising bombarded consumers during the hotter months, leaving little room for other thirst-quenching drinks.

“Hence the provocative question and central creative idea of Canadian Club’s campaign: ‘Who made beer the boss of summer?’ Across national TV and OOH, the ads subtly mocked beer’s summer dominance, and positioned Canadian Club’s RTD variant as a valid alternative to it. For targeted reach, the brand secured ad-break placements during key sports events and OOH close to stadiums.

“By liberating Australians from the cultural obligation of drinking beer in the summer, Canadian Club’s RTD product achieved a volume increase of 45% and a value one of 56%, for an ROI of $4.63:1.”

Watch it below:

Special Group Australia won Bronze in the ROI category with its ad for Carlton & United Breweries, with an entry titled “Why uncomplicating the complicated is always a winning strategy”.

Canadian Club winning formula

Trent Chapman – Marketing Director – Oceania, believes the brand has a winning strategy in place, as it now has the highest penetration in Dark RTD, with one in every three drinkers in the category consuming the product.

The boost to Canadian Club’s fortunes kicked off with the ‘Over Beer?’ campaign almost 10 years ago, after the government severely increased in the excise on RTDs.

“Since then Canadian Club results have been unprecedented – double digital growth year on year, going from a 500,000 case brand in 2010, with 2019 on track to delivering just short of four million cases, while expanding margins each year.

“The creative execution has evolved over the 10 year with the overarching key message portraying Canadian Club as the refreshing alternative to beer staying consistent.”

New Zealand’s top beer ad

Across the Tasman, New Zealand beer Speight’s won Gold at the New Zealand Effie Marketing Awards for its two-minute film “The Dance”.

The ad follows two workmates as one teaches the other to dance. It showcases mateship, hard work and love, as well as reintroducing the brand’s iconic tagline, Good on Ya Mate’.

‘The film won multiple awards at the Effies, including a Gold award for FMCG, a Gold Award for Best Strategic Thinking, the Hardest Challenge Award and the biggest Award of the night, the Grand Effie, which is awarded to the campaign that achieved the most extraordinary results.

Agencies DDB Aotearoa and MediaCom brought the award-winning campaign to life, which talks to the idea of mateship in a modern and humorous way.

Craig Baldie, Australia and NZ Marketing Director at Lion (who also won Marketer of the Year) said: “A fresh approach to our core beliefs was the perfect way to showcase mateship, a value that has stuck with Speight’s through various ages and stages. There are some things you can only ask a mate for help with, ‘The Dance’ reimagines an age-old tradition of mates sacrificing for mates through challenging times.”

DDB NZ creative director Rory McKechnie, added: “The truth that mates will do anything for each other is a very genuine thought, but it hasn’t always been portrayed that way. We wanted to get away from the over-the-top caricatures typical in beer advertising and bring that idea to life in a more real way.”

Watch the ad below: