Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Recently the regional campaign of Laško beer was launched, including three legends of the music scene in the region: Halid Bešlić, Željko Joksimović and Neno Belan. A great contest was thus launched, and its finale will be held in August, at the Laško beer and Flowers Festival.
We talked about the new campaign with Rumen Kolev, Marketing Director at Heineken Slovenia.
Media Marketing: The Laško challenge raised great attention among citizens throughout the region, mostly because of the protective faces of this campaign, Halid Bešlić, Željko Joksimović and Neno Belan. Where did the idea came from for these music stars to be the bearers of the campaign?
Rumen Kolev: The Laško Challenge campaign is the continuations of the concept “Laško Bet” – the communication platform on which we have been building our communication since 2015. All our stories are wrapped around our hero product – the last remaining bottle of Laško and the people who are competing for that bottle with their knowledge, experiences …
To be more exact – in the year 2016 we based our story on the conflict between a father and a son (two famous Slovenian actors) Sebastian and Boris Cavazza, and in the year 2017 we “played” with the tension between two biggest football clubs in Slovenia and their legendary players Sebastjan Cimirotić and Marcos Tavares.
This year’s concept, from the Slovenian point of view, means the continuity of the past communication, following our strategy and on the other side its’s something new and different in the region, where we also have big ambitions. We believe that the field of music is definitely something that connects the Adriatic region and that’s why this years’ concept is built around three Balkan music legends, who present different music genres, cover different audiences and are highly known and appreciated throughout the region.
Media Marketing: Was it difficult to connect three regional stars in one place?
Rumen Kolev: The role of the Laško brand is that it appreciates everyone who met some great challenges in life. We strongly believe, that life is a game of characters and our product Laško Zlatorog, is a beer full of character, therefore a logical connection with the great and legendary personas. And if you have a concept such as the “Laško Bet”, that you have already tested, and it brought great results, then the future decisions about your campaigns comes easier, if not even natural. But of course, we met some challenges synchronizing everything – from the production schedules, to statements with which everyone in the process must agree on. The more people involved, the more challenges.
We believe that the role of a good advertiser is that everyone involved in the story must be presented in the best possible way and I think we managed to achieve that in every campaign so far. Of course, the chemistry on the set between the protagonist is vital and the relationship between the singers really brought an added value to the results of the finished materials. It also resulted in the relaxed atmosphere on the set and the trust in the team working on the project.
Media Marketing: What are your expectations for this campaign, what is the key message you want to send to the public?
Rumen Kolev: This campaign is the first synchronized presence of the Laško brand in the history of the Adriatic region for all the countries involved, including Slovenia. The desired outcomes from the business-oriented goal is to become a strong regional beer brand.
Media Marketing: The final competition, where the winners will be selected by the public vote, will be held in July in Slovenia. What do you expect from the attendees of the Lasko beer and flowers festival and the final evening?
Rumen Kolev: To vote for your favorite, you need to visit the lasko-challenge.com website and clap for your favorite, and the one who will receive the most claps will be the winner.
Each country will also draw a winner of the fully stocked Laško fridge from all the people who contributed the claps on the page.
The final part of the Laško Challenge will be held on the scene of the Laško beer and Flowers Festival where the winner will be announced live, the finals can be followed by all citizens from across the region through live streaming.
Regardless of the outcome for us, all three are the winners, since it’s still advertising, and that is supposed to be fun. We don’t want to make them rivals, but we do want to create a content, that sparks a conversation.
Media Marketing: Laško is a brand with a long tradition, one of the leading beers in the former Yugoslavia, how hard was it to achieve today’s success?
Rumen Kolev: Laško is actually a legendary Slovenian beer known throughout the region. It was the biggest beer brand in the former joined country, and was known for its quality. And we want this reputation to gain all its former glory. As a direct marketing manager, I really believe in it. It’s also much easier to work with a brand that –is genuine and has strong and graspable foundations in its identity.
Media Marketing: Is it difficult to get rid of the competition, what makes Laško beer different and stand out from the rest?
Rumen Kolev: The quality of our beer is undeniable. The recognizable beer bitterness of the Slovenian hops is just one of the qualities. The other is the broader picture of the brand. Laško is definitely one of the biggest Slovenian brands and if we add a different communication strategy that the competition follows, consumers notice that.
Media Marketing: Laško is available to citizens throughout the region, where is it most consumed?
Rumen Kolev: Of course, the biggest consumption is in Slovenia, where we own the first place as a beer brand. However, our results are also showing a great success in the other Adriatic markets as well. For us all the markets are equally important, since it’s the omni presence that can give the brand a true regional feeling.
Media Marketing: At the moment, everything is focused on the Laško Challenge campaign, can we already announce some news and Laško plans for the next period?
Rumen Kolev: Until the end of August, most of our attention will be focused on the Laško Challenge campaign, that actually just started. Afterwards we’ll analyze the results and decide about the future. Of course, the wish of the future evolvement of the concept continues, if the results will be as predicted.
Another part of our advertising strategy is to incorporate the regional sponsorships. We’re also constantly searching for additional fields which will be in sync with the brand an its strategy. Apart from our communication stories, we’re also developing a great deal of interesting innovations that will hopefully intrigue our consumers.