The Beer Store reminds Ontarians it has something for everyone, ‘Whatever the Case May Be’
New brand campaign by King Ursa is about cementing the nearly century-old retailer’s status as the province’s premiere destination for all things beer and more.
Arriving at the thirstiest time of the year is a new and cheerful brand campaign created for The Beer Store by King Ursa. This campaign is the Toronto agency’s first for The Beer Store since being named its AOR in November, and was created to remind both long-time customers and an entirely new audience that not only is it the favoured destination for Ontarians, there’s more than beer in store for you.
From joggers who like lagers, to hard seltzer fans, to barbeque enthusiasts seeking the perfect pilsners to go with their food, there are as many types of drinkers as there are options available at The Beer Store. With the Province’s original beer retailer celebrating its 95th anniversary this year, it wanted to emphasize to consumers that no matter where you are, who you’re with, or what situations you find yourself in, The Beer Store has a cold one that’s right for you— “Whatever the Case May Be”.
The ‘Whatever the Case May Be’ platform was created to be ownable and contextual for any audience in any location for years to come. It was designed to give the brand long-term creative and strategic flexibility by allowing it to speak to existing and new audiences about The Beer Store’s growing selection of products and their relevance for all kinds of drinking occasions.
The integrated campaign is led by a series of four 15-second videos and is supported by contextual ads across social, digital, and in-store that serve to reach audiences with messages like “When was the last time you drank something for the first time?”, “Searching for cold singles in your area?” and “Find the beer you didn’t know you were looking for.” In this ever-changing retail environment, it was important to remind Ontarians that The Beer Store’s selection of over 1,000+ beers now includes seltzers, radlers, and hard teas available in everything from single cans to 2-4s.
“We know consumers’ tastes and shopping behaviours vary as much as the culture and landscapes of this amazing province, so we knew we needed to appeal to a broad and diverse audience,” says Natasha McVie, Director of Marketing at The Beer Store. “Thanks to our brewers, we continue to expand our selection year over year, so Ontarians can rely on us for a wide assortment of beer, flavour innovation, and malt-based ready to drink beverages from across Canada and around the world.”
The campaign is designed to showcase The Beer Store’s products in a fun and relatable way, says King Ursa President Cheryl Gosling. “It gives us an opportunity to speak to its huge range of products, great employees and widening customer base while affirming its positioning as a friendly and approachable retailer.”
King Ursa and The Beer Store’s media agency, OMD Worldwide, are working closely on the campaign to reach new consumers outside of their typical audience. Targeted executions across different platforms, including sports and gaming services, were developed to increase brand consideration for all kinds of drinking occasions.
“With the goal of revitalizing our brand in the Ontario market, our strategy was to reach a younger audience than our historical core consumer. The media landscape has shifted dramatically in the past few years, most notably with our new millennial target.” says Ryan Calhoun, Associate Director of Strategy at OMD.
“In order to connect with this group and drive brand consideration, we needed to reconsider our go-to-market approach and overhaul our media mix. Our proprietary media tools helped us to optimize our channel selection to include digital video and gaming platforms, delivering incremental reach and driving brand relevance.”
About The Beer Store
The Beer Store listed 1,154 brands, provided by more than 246 brewers in 2021. Over half of the brewers listed are small Ontario brewers. It is a completely open system that allows any brewer in the world to sell their brands in any store they choose. The Beer Store is deeply committed to responsible sale and not selling to minors and people who are intoxicated. More than 1.6 million customers were challenged in 2021 alone. It is also one of the greenest retailers in the world and collected more than 1.3 billion beer bottles in 2021 (a 79 percent return rate) and over 459 million wine and spirit containers (a 72 percent recovery rate). The Beer Store Employs 7,000 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full- and part-time jobs.
About King Ursa
King Ursa is an independent Toronto based creative agency driven by performance. With an agile and adaptable approach that puts strategy first, they take on each campaign from a truly integrated point of view. The agency is on a mission to solve real business problems with real, measurable results.
“Whatever The Case May Be”
Campaign Credits:
Client: The Beer Store
Director Marketing: Natasha McVie (Heck)
Manager, Brand and Communications: Anna Chlebowska
Marketing Specialist: Andrea Duhart
Marketing Specialist: Rory McGibney
Strategy Manager: Ryan Wagner
Agency: King Ursa
President: Cheryl Gosling
Executive Creative Director: Grant Cleland
Executive Creative Director: Sean Atkinson
ACD: Kevin Hoessler
ACD: Steven Tiao
Senior Writer: Jayar Green
Junior Designer: Koby Sabado
Senior 3D Motion Designer / VFX: Andrew Penchuk
Brand Strategist: Danny Frangella
Group Business Director: Kristin Stefanyak
Account Supervisor: Stephanie Nguyen
Senior Project Manager: Carrie Weston, Michelle Philpott
Agency Producer: Katherina Villa
Production Company: Revolver Films
Director: John Grammatico
Director of Photography: John Ker
Executive Producer: Luc Frappier
Line Producer: Erik Wilson, Craig Fleming
Production Designer: Melanie Garros
Casting Director: Steve Mann
Editing Facility: Rooster
Editor: Chris Parkins
Assistant Editor: Sonny Atkins
Executive Producer: Melissa Kahn
Colour Facility: Alter Ego
Colourist: Eric Whipp
VFX / Finishing Facility: Alter Ego
Senior VFX Artist: Joel Osis
VFX Artist: Eric Perrella
VFX Assistant: Victoria Gaston
Executive Producer: Hilda Pereira
Producer: Andrew Tavares
Audio House: Grayson Music Group
Music Director: Mark Domitric
Engineer: Vlad Nikolic
Executive Producer: Kelly McCluskey
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