Having guest speaker Ana López come and speak to our class the other day about advertising and brand marketing was a really cool and interesting experience. I was able to learn an incredible amount about different types of advertisements and how they affected the company she works for, Estrella Damm. López studied journalism and worked for 3 years as a journalist at a communications agency. She has a masters in communications and marketing and currently works for Estrella Damm.
Estrella Damm is the first brewery in Catalonia and the third brewery in Spain. The brand advertises that drinking Estrella Damm will provide good moments and a mediterranean way of life. They advertise this through music videos, short film, music, culture, friendship, gastronomy, and party time. In 2009, Estrella Damm created a short music video, which increased their YouTube views and brand awareness by 225%. The music video, which worked with a not so well known Swedish band, ended up being the most downloaded song of the summer in Spain and Fromentera, the location of the music video, was the preferred travel destination that year.
In 2015, Estrella Damm created a 10 minute short film (shown below), featuring Dakota Johnson. After this video was published, their brand awareness increased by 5% in Spain and 30% in the UK. YouTube awarded Estrella Damm as the best campaign in Spain. Afterwards, more than 1 million people followed Estrella Damm on at least 1 social media platform. During this campaign, Ana López was leading a team of more than 30 people from inside and outside the company (agencies that work for Estrella Damm). The Estrella Damm budget increased from 100,000 euros in 2009, to 1 million euros by 2015. The way Estrella Damm advertised worked very well for the company and was able to successfully increase their brand awareness, not just in Spain but all over Europe.
After their huge success in 2015, the company began to look for the creation of growth and communities, they searched for campaigns that would fit in with every type of social media platform, not just YouTube. They also formed relationships with key partners, such as the media, Google and YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram communities. In order to grow their comapany and grow digitally, they collaborated with partners from restaurants, to festivals and football teams. One thing that the company learned through all of their success is that it is so important to match the interests of the brand with the interests of your target audience. In order to achieve this, one must put the community first (find the motivations and beliefs of the company and its target), reach media influencers, advertise online and offline, and work with agencies that understand the companies needs.