[vc_row][vc_column][vc_images_carousel images=”40840,40841,40842″ img_size=”full” autoplay=”yes” hide_pagination_control=”yes” wrap=”yes”][vc_column_text]UK agency Purple Creative has produced a coffee table book, called Well Served Here, to amplify the success of Pilsner Urquell Tankovna beer and the people who have been trained to pour it perfectly over the last five years.
Pilsner Urquell started promoting its revolutionary tank beer system in 2011 to serve beer as fresh as it is in its brewery cellars. Tankovna is unpasteurised beer delivered direct to bars within 48 hours of the brewery in Pilsen. Ignoring conventional packaging and serving methods, the brand created ‘tank bars’ showcasing the actual steel tanks used to store the beer. This idea has since been much copied.
Purple has been involved in the project right from the start, and the agency’s work spans several different activities, from creating a new global brand identity and guidelines in 2012, to activating on- and off-trade strategies, developing tactical activations and events, running global workshops and working directly with local markets and bars, to the research, creation and production of the book, which is being shared with present and future Tankovna bars. The book is also given as a tool to potential/ future tank bars, to inspire, create a business case and show the importance of craft for PU.
Co-founder and creative director of Purple Creative, Steve Bewick, said: “This has been a once-in-a-career project. Pilsner Urquell started a beer revolution and it’s still being revolutionary today. Since 2011, we’ve helped the brand transition from an over-marketed ‘me too beer’ to one built on its truths.
“The strategy has been to target beer drinkers that give a shit about where things come from and how things are made, rather than people that don’t really care. This came at exactly the right time, as the US craft beer movement expanded across the globe. This five-year project has resulted in increased market share, but it has also made the brand relevant again and put it back in its rightful place as the grandfather of all Pilsner style beers.
“And all we’ve really had to do is tell the truth. This turned out to be easier said than done and a massive challenge to traditional ways of marketing. The global marketing team were up for that challenge and we’ve worked closely with them on every aspect of the brand to achieve success.”
The book came about after Steve and the brand team were chatting over a pint (or two) of Pilsner Urquell. They thought “why don’t we take a writer and photographer on the road across Europe to visit the very best examples of tank bars and the people that are serving the beer right?”
Eva Stanikova, global marketing manager at Pilsner Urqell, said: “Purple are more than a creative agency — they have become our brand partners. They care just as passionately about our beer as we do. They totally understand our brand and have become a true extension of our team.
“Hopefully, this book captures just how proud we are of our beer and how far the brand has come in the last five years of tank beer and the Tapster programme — we are overjoyed with the result.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
