Ribena has refreshed its brand positioning with a humorous film at the center of a £7m campaign that encourages people to reach for the drink to laugh through awkward moments in life.
“Chin up” is the first work from Bartle Bogle Hegarty since it won the account last year after incumbent Wunderman Thompson resigned the account.
The campaign includes a new tagline: “When it’s Ri-bena bit awkward.” One film shows a woman checking her reflection in a car window, only for a teenager to wind down the window and give her a chilling look.
Another follows a man attempting to parallel park under the pressure of people watching him and as he fails over and over a cat pops up shaking its head, saying: “Maaaaate.”
Charlotte Flook, head of Ribena at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, said: “With the brand in strong growth of 15%, now is the perfect time to launch our new campaign. ‘Chin up’ puts our brand’s cheeky irreverent personality at its heart by encouraging the nation to reach for a Ribena to help them laugh through life’s awkward little stumbles.
“This new positioning will drive reappraisal of the drink to help retailers to grow their sales of the brand in store across our ever-popular ready-to-drink and squash ranges and give their category sales a lift. BBH’s clear-eyed thinking about the direction the brand must head in makes a huge amount of sense, and the creative way they’ve brought it to life with ‘Chin up’ is a joy.”
The work has been created by Dom Moira and Kieron Roe, and directed by Thomas Ormonde through Mindseye. The adverts will be run on TV in the UK and Ireland, it is also supported by out-of-home activity. MediaCom has handled the media.
Helen Rhodes, executive creative director at BBH, said: “It’s not every day you get the chance to take an iconic, beloved British brand and reimagine it to the world. We took this task very seriously but we also had a lot of fun doing it. Animatronic cats are just the start. This is a brand platform with endless possibilities to get Ribena talked about in culture and beyond. One awkward moment at a time.”
