Clemenger BBDO Melbourne launches Carlton Natural campaign: go with your natural instinct

Good stuff Ant, Tom and Julian. The best beer creatives in the land.

Average. And 2.39 - Ant may be one of the best but I'd stop there and include the guys who did Boags.

I laughed hard at the gecko one, and had a good chuckle at the tortoise execution, so it's a thumbs up from me.

Well done, lads.

Look, just before this campaign gets covered in drool, if it had been done by any agency other than Clems I'm sure someone would have pointed out that the old 'guys behaviour cleverly matched to nature / sport documentary voiceover' is a very, very old technique.

Even Mcdonalds used it during the world cup. Amex recently.

You'll have to try much, much harder on a beer brief I'm afraid.

Heap of shite.

Don't mind them, I'm sure punters will get a laugh/relate to them, but tend to agree with comment about the nature doco voice over.
As an observation, I've got to say the Carlton product range seems to get increasingly confusing in some senses. First the there was Carlton Pure Blonde, then Carlton Natural Blonde, now Carlton Natural. And are they not all low carb beers? Am I missing something?

The whole Carlton Natural brand is a Hahn Super Dry rip off! Shame on you Fosters - lazy marketing at it's worst.

Agree, nature doco v/o isn't new but these are funny, I like em.

Hate to nit-pick. But wouldn't "lazy marketing at it's(sic) worst" be the antithesis of lazy?

Also, Edward, I hate to stop you 'in flagrante' but I think this is the first beer ad Tom and Jules have done.

And it's not a bad effort considering they've got to write parodies.

When I heard the docco VO i was worried. But I didn't see the gags coming and had a good old Friday laugh. Nice.

Sorry. All very predictable and not very funny. I expected a lot more.

the gags themselves are great, but they really missed the mark using that tired old nature documentary style.

in the US, these would have been much weirder and better.

Booom Farquharson!

There's also Carlton Dry that is a low carb beer.

I always worry about comments that mention the names of the creatives. Tend to be just a little like group hugs.

But moving on...

In the end, this is yet another campaign based on a bit of pun on the product name, without any real strategy or thinking about the product.

Not in the same league as Boags, which has the kind of promise that makes you think, yeah, that might be a decent beer. And it's done in a way that's unique to the product.

What does this Carlton Natural campaign tell you? Nothing much at all. It's vacuous. A bit of a laugh, quite okay, but there's nothing there really. It doesn't set up the brand with any real meaning, and it won't sell much beer.

Good funny ads. Not the best ads these 2 have done
but they made me laugh.

what happened to the taste of the future in your mouth?

Whoah 10:13! Are you looking for meaning in a beer? Seriously? Do you want Carlton to have a philosophy about molasses? Are you a planner? Do guys even think about the beer when they're drinking it? Sure they chat about ex-es and chicks and shit, but is the conversation about 'the beer'?

Lighten up, folks. It's a beer ad. Chin-chin.

very very average

This is great advertising done by guys who 'get' marketing. Get on the 'natural' bandwagon with a 'natural' beer. But obviously it's not going to work if you start showing crops of hops and stuff. So how else do you give a product like this a reason for being?

Answer: The beer that lets you be your natural self.

It's not rocket-science people. Rocket science doesn't make the bar stop and listen. Funny stuff (like these ads) does.

So its a beer for pussies who are uncomfortable in social situations? Ummm well that's different angle for beer...

This ad would have been better if it was plate or a perfume.

Carlton now have so many sub-brands it would surely make sense to do one big campaign with individual executions.

Entry level for a beer brief. Definitely not award worthy.

These are good ideas and scripts by the guys. Just haven't been taken to the right or best place they could have, for whatever reason. A shame really.

Go the Crack Fox

Nice work boys. I really like them. Very funny.

Funny as a fit.

@9:25 AM

It's not the first beer ad they've done.

http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad_details.php?id=f55cb

What a waste.

Not for the first time, I'd love to see what briefs the people who don't like these ads are working on today.

Now THAT would be funny.

Why so serious? It's beer for fuck's sake.

I like em.

You're missing the point, 10.30.

Boag's is based on the purity of Tasmanian water, something you can hang a brand on (and a positioning bizarrely deserted by Cascade). They took that very nuts and bolts positioning and turned it into a very creative campaign with legs that can, if they have sense, run for years.

All Clems have done is taken the name and had fun with it. Nothing wrong with fun, and beer is a fun product. But this is a lazy approach. The beer has fundamental features that have been pretty well ignored.

Imagine how much stronger a campaign you'd end up with if you had as much fun with the executions as they do with these ads, but actually build them on the inherent product benefits that this beer offers?

10.30, I'm not 10.13 but I agree with him/her/it.

Carlton Draught Made From Beer tells you something genuine and meaningful about the brand: that it's a no-bullshit, honest pub draught beer. The ads themselves were great too. So that's not just entertainment for its own sake.

Boags Draught: exactly the same thing. Pure Waters tells you something genuine about the brand, and the work itself is excellent.

VB Regulars, again: a positioning borne out of a truth. Good work as well.

So not only can it be done, but it's a more powerful way of doing it than a basic gag. But it's fucking hard to do, and not always possible even if you try, so that's why those campaigns tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

But like in any category, a strong beer brand will have 'meaning' to the consumer. Otherwise you're just doing ads that'll be here for three months, and gone forever.

You reckon this campaign thought will live beyond 2010? I'd be surprised if it did. It's a nice take on Natural, but really - there's nothing there for the consumer to hold onto. Not like in the 3 examples above.

pa-ro-dy (clap clap clap) pa-ro-dy (clap clap clap)....

We live a world of pussies who are uncomfortable in social situations.
Sad, but true.

No, it's not enough to satisfy us ad people. We're shouting "seen it!" from the top of the hills.

BUT (big but, there) the average bloke - who this ad is FOR, you muppets - will find it funny and *original*.

So well done, Clems.

1.49. $75 fine for use of the word 'muppets'.

Also please note that the word 'milieu' has been added to the banned words from this blog list and will also incur a fine.

If there's one team we probably shouldn't be hanging crap on it's this one. Between Magic salad plate, support scent and the recent pie ad I think they're putting out more work and better work than the rest of us. Good work men.

30-second television commercials have been done before too. Is there no end to Ant, Julian and Tom's shameless plagiarism?

I'm sorry 2.07, but you've just proved the point someone else made above.

You're allowing how you think about the team that did the work colour your opinion of the work.

Gotta separate the artist from the art, man!

This is not bad work by any means. Not by a long shot. But, to damn it with faint praise, it comes across a bit as clever for the sake of being clever, not for any particular benefit to the product.

Makes the agency feel good, amuses the audience for a tenth of a second (which is actually quite an accomplishment) but fails to leave any real long term impression (which is what building a brand is all about).

So forget for a moment that it's done by some of your mates of by people you respect (hey, lots of great directors have made ordinary movies) and look at the ads for what they actually are.

Why can't Carlton make Gluten Free beer?

Dear 12:25 (or, most likely Julian), I did say it was the first beer ad Tom AND Jules had done, not the first beer ad Tom OR Jules had done.
I remember a pretty nice print campaign for a beer Tom art directed many many moons ago.

made me laugh. nice work

Moar funny. Everybody smile. Happy day.

I'm holding a beer.

men who don't want to hang around women -- go figure

also, in the first one he leaves his beer behind. is this good?

I love the tall poppy syndrome. I suppose its better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. You naysayers all sound like jealous ex girlfriends. Makes me giggle.

beer isn't gay?

Like a few other people I started rolling my eyes the moment the cliche' doco voice came in. However I was nicely surprised by the gags. Nice stuff.

Here's what my mates say about these...you know, the kind who don't work in advertising...

"Oh yeah, hey I tell ya what is funny though, that Old spice guy, pisser."

Hi 9:25 / 300,

No, I'm not Julian. On the contrary, I was just reinforcing your original point, that these guys are not the best creatives in the land, by pointing out that one of them is responsible for a very average beer ad for Boags. All prior convictions would have to be taken into account if you were awarding such a lofty title to any team.

Here it is again:

http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad_details.php?id=f55cb

12:25 PM

Nice comment 12.24am. You pretty much said these ads aren't as funny as the funniest ad in the world. Insightful.

Woman Whisperer, Speak Woman and now these ads. Yawn. Does anyone in the Clems creative department actually like women?

I loved these - well done guys.

I like them. Nice work by Animal too.

yawn

LAZY.

I'm so bored, i can just find the strength to type. Please someone do a new idea for beer ads. Blokes in a bar...kill me.

8:26

If you can go out and say that these two aren't Australia's best creatives at the moment, then surely you feel qualified to tell us who is.

A genuine Unique Selling Style beats a fake Unique Selling Point. And beats it hard.

Too much old school here.

Please stop the blokes jokes about women, set in a bar.

Clem's do need some fresh work soon, or it will get a bit worrying.

Nice spots.Will work hard.
With all these negative comments you'd think we were the worlds creative hot spot.
Also women don't drink enough beer to count.

12:50 PM, no, that wasn't my point, but thank you so much for your feedback.

- 12:24 AM

Nice try 4:41, but I think we've got you covered.

12:13

The discussion is about Australia's best beer creatives. These two have done some awesome integrated work, no doubt. But they're not Australia's best beer creatives. They've never done a good beer ad. This one included.

If such a team exists, most would agree that Ant Keogh and Grant Rutherford are Australia's best beer creatives of all time.

Saw these a lot over the weekend. Somehow, they felt a lot less shit on TV than they do here. That's about as big a compliment I can give them.

Open on a group of blokes in a bar.

Add joke related to the name of the beer.

Fade to logo.

Cue loud applause from the usual sources.

(Is it compulsory for everyone at Clems to spend an hour a day lauding Clems work on blogs?)

I'm confused - there aren't any 1962 911 porsches... they weren't invented till 64...

lighten up y'all
i think they are funny. i am a woman ! i dont know if it would make me drink the beer but maybe i like the brand a little more. dunno.

Hi Rub.

There's just a wee bit too much sycophantic man-love in here for my liking.

Play the ball, not the man, you girlie-men.

Is anyone running a book on when this product will be deleted?
Carlton Empire - Gone!
Carlton Natural Blonde - Gone!
Carlton Cold - Dead!
Carlton Pure Blonde - On its way
Carlton Pure Blonde Naked - Did it ever get there??
Carlton Natural - it won't be here by this time next year
Who the f*ck is writing the strategy for this once great mark of great Aussie beer??

Um, Pure Blonde is one of the highest selling Australian beers out there...

What is that taste in my mouth ah hahahahaha
Another heap of shit. Shit ad, shit beer the first time. Shit ad, shit beer the second time. Hope they go for a thrid time.
Will win the polished turd award for sure.

So is Carlton Cold. They just don't advertise.

7:50
With all due respect to Ant and Grant, do the names Mo and Jo ring a bell?

No, Carlton Cold is not one of the biggest selling beers. Hasn't been for ages.

Not by a long shot. For a year or more, after it was named, designed and launched by Patts, it was the number 2 packaged beer in the country. Now it's just a steady earner, but not a major beer.

And no, pure blonde is not and never was one of the highest selling beers in the country, not in anyone's maths. Did okay for a while, but that's all.

So what 3.46 has said is very accurate. (Come on, can anyone even remember Empire? It came, it had a hugely expensive ad, it went.) First, maybe they're not good beers. As the saying goes, nothing kills a bad product faster than a good ad.

But I suspect the total lack of strategic thinking is also a big issue. Nobody at the brewery and nobody at the agency seems to think any deeper than the first clever idea that comes into their heads. Natural is yet another example. Mildly amusing ad that could be applied to just about any product with the word Natural in the name - and that's a lot of products.

Now, how many products could use the Boags promise? There's where strategy comes in. Clems clearly don't have it.

9:33 - Nice spin. Thoroughly untrue, but a good effort nonetheless. I give you 3 /10 stars.

Really, 9.00?

Please enlighten me.

Cold was the No. 2 packaged beer a decade or so ago, but is just a moderate seller now. (Moderate can still make a lot of money.)

And Pure Blonde was never in that league - it had a nice corner of the market, but was not up there as a big mainstream seller.

Correct me.

Have to agree with 10,05.

Clems make nice ads, but most of them come from nowhere and end up nowhere.

That points to a major strategic deficit.

Rob said:

The gecko commercial is not only bit freaky but it also doesn't support the product - it actually degrades it. The guy not only loses his arm - HE LOSES HIS BEER! If talking to blokes is more important than drinking the product, sorry you lost me!