Aussie beer brand XXXX GOLD will launch its above-the-line (ATL) campaign this week designed to galvanise the nation’s support of the Australian cricket team and bring mates together over cricket this summer.

The ATL campaign follows the launch of the tech-enabled ‘Goldie’, which became available to consumers in October.

The campaign includes two TVCs created by Host. The first follows four mates wearing their tech-enabled Goldies as they go to great lengths to hang out together in an attempt to unlock their chance to win over 6,000 prizes.

The second TVC continues to follow the journey of these mates at a rather uncomfortable doctor’s appointment, this time joined by former cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, who explains the prizes to be won.

Darren Spiller, chief creative officer at Host, said: “It’s great to be a part of putting some fun back into beer advertising and a good example of how a retail idea can be entertaining and engaging instead of forgettable.”

According to XXXX GOLD marketing manager Richard Knight the partnership with Cricket Australia is one of the biggest the beer brand has taken on in a long time.

“With the partnership being so important, we wanted to make this big, especially since it’s an Ashes series on home soil,” he said.

“We started the program with seven of our agency partners, and it has been a great collaborative approach the whole way through.”

Geometry Global created the idea of the Goldie, a piece of wearable tech which will help fans show their support of the Australian cricket team and reward them for coming together this summer via a simple and user-friendly app created by the team at whiteGREY.

Sean Taylor, CEO of Geometry Global, said: “The team were pleased to launch such a novel program off the ground. A platform idea born out of something very simple: reward mates who get together over a XXXX GOLD around cricket, combined with wearable tech.”

Each Goldie is equipped with an iBeacon that can detect other Goldies close by through the XXXX GOLD app.

Marina Earp, group account director at whiteGREY, said: “As Australia gets ready to celebrate the Ashes under the sun, we have literally flipped the use of beacons from being fixed onto walls to being embedded in the XXXX GOLDIE cap, which will be worn by thousands of fans this summer.”

Strategic minds from Host and UM helped shape and build the idea into a fully-fledged connections ecosystem, whilst Octagon secured arguably Australia’s most-loved cricketing ambassador, Adam Gilchrist, to spearhead the campaign.

Octagon will also lead experiential activity during cricket season, which includes an activity designed to capture the hearts of cricket fans all around the country during the tests and one-day internationals.

Known as the XXXX GOLD $10,000 catch, every time a batsman clears the fence with a six, if a fan sitting in the lower tier bays catches it while wearing their Goldie, they will win $10,000.

CREDITS

Client: Lion (XXXX GOLD)

Brand director: Jack Mesley

Marketing manager: Richard Knight

Brand managers: Chris Allan and Christina Reid

Assistant brand manager: Annabelle Sims

Creative agency: Host

Digital agency: whiteGREY

Shopper agency: Geometry Global

Experiential agency: Octagon

Media and communications agency: UM

Production company: Revolver