1. Account Planning School of the Web - May 2016
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Olympics Sponsorship / UK Launch
Anna Thairs
www.annathairs.com
Please note that if I were presenting this ‘in person’, I would use a lot less text on each slide and ‘voice over’ information, explanation and ideas
(which would mean the presentation would likely be shorter!)
Acknowledgements: Paul Hutchinson (MEC) and Toby Bowerman, Danielle Norton & Chris Rhodes (Planning dept., HeyHuman)

2. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Let’s jump straight in: your brief to us
Samuel Adams Boston Lager, an American craft beer, is launching in the
UK with a bottom-tier Olympic sponsorship. We have $400k and so ideally
will focus on partnerships for content creation.
We want to make our target consumers do more than just ‘consume’,
but actually adopt our brand. We need to ensure that Samuel Adams
plays a role in their life that’s more than ‘just a beer’.

3. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
The key challenge we face? Credibility
Given that it is a new brand with little history in the UK, Samuel Adams lacks a sense of
credibility for our audience, amongst our competitors, as a brand and as a business.
AUDIENCE
CHALLENGE
Our target audience are
Millennials - flighty, brand
disloyal and easily distracted.
BRAND
CHALLENGE
No one knows who we are,
what we do or what we
stand for as a brand.
COMPETITIVE
CHALLENGE
The craft beer market is
exceptionally crowded &
competitive.
BUSINESS
CHALLENGE
We have a relatively small
budget for activation to
generate buzz & stand-out.

4. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Samuel Adams is the unabashedly American craft beer
Our unabashed Americanness is what we can say credibly about our brand.
From a long line of brewers, our founder has always taken a leaf from the
rulebook of our patron, Samuel Adams. We take a revolutionary and pioneering
attitude to beer and followed our own path.
We are passionate, authentic and utterly exuberant. Boston Lager is our
flagship brew, exemplifying and carrying the torch for our spirit and values.
Our Americanness gives us strong cultural and contextual creds too - there’s
little that’s more unabashedly American than the exuberance around sport and
the important role it plays in American society.

5. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
The craft beer market is growing fast - but is crowded
1. It’s growing rapidly
Britain now has more breweries than
anywhere else in the world – craft
has hit the mainstream. There’s a
burgeoning community of consumers
sharing information and looking to
explore new flavours, concepts and
ideas.
20% of adults drunk craft beer in the 6 months to
September 2014
Consumers are buying craft in mainstream outlets
(78% from a supermarket, 38% of younger Millennials
prefer convenience stores)
SABMiller bought Camden Town Brewery this year
and Fuller positions its London Pride with a very
strong craft tone of voice
48% of beer drinkers prefer to try many different beer
brands
12% would buy a new beer because it came from an
exotic location
47% of beer drinkers like to tell people about beers
they’ve enjoyed
21% are interested in joining an online beer club – as
shown by the popularity of beer exploration & rating
app Untappd (more than 3m users)
45% would buy beer because of a recommendation
2. It’s so crowded it’s become a bit homogenous
CRAFT & SKILL
AUTHENTICIT
Y
&
HERITAGE
ALTERNATIV
E
ATTITUDE
Craft brands tend to speak
in one of three ways.
They are all very serious and
snobbish, exhibiting a very
in-crowd versus out-crowd
mentality and an almost
off-putting pretentious
dedication to their craft.
We sit in the gap between
attitude & authenticity.

6. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Traditionally brands in the craft beer space cater to
the hipster ‘core’ - those discerning consumers that
are passionate about craft beer and its ethos. For
them, it’s more than just a drink, but is part of thier
self-defined identity. Just as a punk has his mohawk
and a girly-girl loves prosecco, drinking craft beer
is part of their identity - and so a lack of relevant
creds will be spotted a mile off.
We’d have difficulty targeting the core as
Samuel Adams doesn’t have the hipster creds
- it’s not got a great ‘indie’ reputation as it’s
very large and has taken a disdainful view of
grassroots craft trends and preferences.
There’s a challenge with the core...

7. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Samuel Adams is however the perfect
brand for Mainstream Explorers - those
individuals who are dipping their toe in to
the brewing tank of craft. They’re interested
in craft beer because it’s cool and different,
rather than having the craft ethos running
through their veins.
Given the infancy of the craft market, most
brands, as we’ve seen, target the core - those
who they know will understand and live their brand.
This means we can carve a niche by targeting a
higher-volume audience that is neglected by our
competition.
... and an opportunity
in the more mainstream

8. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
“Busy young men and women with a good level of disposable income” = 18-39 y.o. beer drinkers (mainly
between 25 and 34) often but not exclusively ABC1 (59%) and almost all urban-dwelling (86%)
Our audience are experience-driven and fun-loving
They value experiences over material things, want to live life to the full - for positivity and out of FOMO.
They’re entrepreneurial, independent and want to be the protagonist of their own stories. They engage in
‘identity curation’ – taking influences from a number of different sources to curate and create their own
image that represents them and their individuality. They’re interested in enjoying life and the ride.
Tongue-in-cheek
home pride
Experience-
driven
Enjoying
the ride
*Please see appendix for proof points

9. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Beer in general is mostly drunk as a way to relax (60%) and as a way to have fun (32%).
Craft beer takes these motivations to drink beer and combines it with ‘identity curation’ -
they drink craft beer because it allows them to be different, to be individual to explore new
flavours and experiences.
Craft beer allows people to express themselves while having fun and relaxing with friends.
Craft beer allows them to have fun and express themselves

10. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
What are the Olympics all about?
A tribal coming-together in
celebration of passion and skill
OPPORTUNITY:
Use the Olympics as a cultural jumping-off point to drive awareness
of Samuel Adams within our Mainstream Explorer audience.

11. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Observation 1
London 2012 kindled a new passion for the Olympics, patriotism and Team GB in the UK.
But when it’s not on our doorstep, the excitement and sense of community are less intense.
We could do with someone to help us
kick-start our patriotism and excitement.
THEN NOW
Londoners’ memories of the 2012 Olympics Current press and social sentiment

12. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Observation 2
“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.”
Brits have deep-set cultural norms that around politeness and being reserved - the
famous ‘stiff upper lip’. Anecdotally, Americans are often seen as brash, loud and uncouth.
But, sometimes, it’s good to let go and go a bit crazy.
US THEM
Anthropologist Kate Fox identifies the ‘brash’ Bill from Iowa and the ‘Indirectness Rule’ to explain our
societal fear of exuberance and outward or extroverted displays of passion.

13. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Insight
Brits often see Americans as being
a bit ‘OTT’, but when we’re given
the opportunity and permission to,
we enjoy going a bit OTT ourselves.
From street parties with strangers, Beatlemania to One Direction, Team GB throwing its athletes in the
Olympic pool, even the pinnacle of Stiff Upper Lip - the royals - getting excited and making noise

14. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Bring back unabashed American excitement to British drinkers
CULTURE CLASH CULTURAL TOURISM
ROLE FOR BRAND:
CREATIVE PROPOSITION
Go a bit OTT for Team GB
with Samuel Adams
MEDIA STRATEGY ACTIVATION EXECUTION
OTT SUPPORT
CREATIVE IDEA

15. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
This works because it’s something we can all get behind
- and it’s got long-lasting legs
1. “Go a bit OTT for Team GB” is a behaviour that’s achievable for everyone, making Samuel Adams an inclusive and
friendly brand. It doesn’t offer parameters, it just asks you to join in the fun.
2. OTT Support offers the opportunity to use ‘cultural tourism’ - the highlighting of differences and idiosyncrasies
between nations - to generate buzz and give our partners a content focus.
3. It also gives us activation longevity - beyond the games, Samuel Adams can remain the brand that offers OTT support
out of the context of the Olympics, into more general cultural events.
OUR TONE OF VOICE FOR OTT SUPPORT
We are
Unashamedly American
Positive
Friendly
Approachable
Inclusive
Supportive
Excitable
Keen
Boorish
Stupid
Pressuring
Broheim/“frat boy”
Arrogant
Aggressive
Patronising
Superior
We aren’t

16. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Media Strategy
AWARENESS MEDIA
SO
C
IAL PARTICIPATI
O
N
IDEA:
OTT
SUPPORT
OFF-TRADE
IN-BAR
FOCUSED ACTIVITY SPECIFIC TO
CHANNEL AND PARTNER
FOCUSED
ACTIVITY
SPECIFIC TO
CHANNEL
AND
PARTNER
Our strategy will use partnerships and
social UGC to create content and generate
awareness.
We will focus partnership effort on retail
and pub/bar activity, with activity tailored
specifically to those locations.
Meanwhile, we will use awareness media -
partnerships with PR, social influencers and
the media - to generate buzz, and social
participation to drive interaction and foster
a sense of community.
Role of media: show a movement of OTT
Role of social: make it permissible to go OTT
Role of partners: make it easy to go OTT
TARGETING
We will activate in selected, targeted areas to ensure a truly
effective response with our market, rather than spreading ourselves
thinly to poor reception:
Bath, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, DeWrby, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester,
Nottingham, Newcastle and Sheffield - these areas have high
concentrations of our Mainstream Explorer audience. We could also
activate in smaller locations for PR stunts.
SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES
Twitter: Primary platform - Engage (social listening)
Instagram: Primary platform - Engage (heroing consumers)
Facebook: Secondary platform - Reach (share content)

17. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of media: Show a movement of OTT
PARTNER: THE CHAP OLYMPIAD
We’ll send an OTT delegation to the Chap Olympiad.
Held annually towards the end of July, the Chap Olympiad is a celebration of all things
stereotypically British and stiff-upper-lip, in the form of a sporting contest. We will send a delegation
of OTT supporters with ‘TEAM GB’ painted on their chests, positive chants and fun pom-pom dances
to shake up the crowd and generate buzz.
We would create a piece of content ourselves to kick-start the chatter, but use social media to
retweet and amplify UGC and press chatter about the stunt.

18. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of media: Show a movement of OTT
PARTNER: INFLUENCERS / PRESS MEDIA OUTLETS
Get influencers to ‘go a bit OTT’ to tease the campaign
Last year, Jon Snow danced to Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’, which got more than 11k retweets on Twitter alone. We like
our figureheads to get out of character, and so we’ll encourage bastions of Britain (such as Jon Snow or Jeremy
Paxman) to do the unexpected and go a bit OTT commentating on a cricket match or PMQs online (through
partners like the Guardian) and through selected press partners (such as the Metro, who have high circulation with
our audience). We’ll work with older-focused YouTube influencers such as Lily Pebbles or Grace Helbig to create
‘OTT’ content - OTT makeup tutorials, OTT crafts - to get people talking and sharing and kick off our ‘role of social’
activation - to make things permissible...

19. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of social: make it permissible to go OTT
REACTIVE CONTENT
Be a truly Olympic campaign by tailoring rewards to live events
By creating reactive offers tailored to things that happen during the Games, we truly live our
proposition - we care about going OTT, and we want to celebrate with our fans. By being reactive, we
keep consumer eyes on our feed, generate positive sentiment and drive consumption of the brand -
offers and freebies are the first step in making the behaviour ‘permissible’.
“Well, if it’s free/BOGOF, I might as well!”
We could partner with BuzzFeed to create reactive listicles and video commentaries from our OTT
delegation on the latest happenings during the games.

20. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of social: make it permissible to go OTT
SURPRISE AND DELIGHT THROUGH SOCIAL LISTENING
Get consumers involved by with UGC
We will hero our consumers who get involved in the OTT spirit by retweeting and rewarding with
vouchers, engagement and offers. We can utilise social listening to start the conversation - looking
out for those who are despairing over Team GB or who need a bit of livening up. We will offer
consumers the opportunity to win vouchers for Samuel Adams - or for those who send in the best
content (e.g. most OTT), tickets to the games.
This gives us a stream of content that we can easily push out that comes from the best partners -
our consumers. It also ties in nicely with potential partnership activation...

21. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of partners: make it easy to go OTT
KEY PARTNER: SAINSBURY’S
SUPPORT PARTNERS: HIGH-FOOTFALL TARGETED INDEPENDENT CONVENIENCE
Offer and incentivise with OTT Super Fun Time Party Kits (Yeah!)
We could partner with Sainsbury’s - a mid-mass-market chain with British roots and nationwide
outlets - and with independent convenience stores (where 38% of younger Millennials purchase their
beer) in our targeted locations to offer OTT Party Kits along the lines of American Superbowl parties.
There would be online support through Sainsbury’s with recipes and suggestions, and the kits could
contain funny sunglasses, flags, mini sausage rolls, pom-poms and of course, Samuel Adams at a
discount. Convenience stores could offer smaller kits for Emergency OTT (going to a pub with mates).

22. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Role of partners: make it easy to go OTT
PARTNER: BARS AND PUBS
Help people learn how to go OTT
Taking our cue from the ‘Golden Postbox’, we could contact traditional pubs in Team GB athletes’
home towns and work with them to exchange publicity for activation: we could turn to the
Whitelocks, the oldest pub in Leeds (the hometown of triathletes the Brownlee brothers) and get
them to change their name for the duration of the games to ‘The Triathletes’. Those pubs could
screen the games and offer ‘OTT safe spaces’.
We could partner with the pubs and bars we already have distribution in to offer similar OTT support
- washroom posters with ‘How To Go OTT’ guides, Olympic screenings and OTT pub quiz nights.
The Triathletes

23. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Media Support
Goal: Drive Awareness
Any remaining budget could be funneled into targeted activation to drive awareness along the
points of the customer journey.
This could take the form of digital OOH in our target cities and near our support pubs and bars using
up-to-the-minute fun OTT content, or geolocation mobile targeting to drive consumers to the bar.
We could also partner with Great British Summer to put on one or two public big-screen showings
of the days with the highest interest for Team GB supporters, allowing us to actually create an OTT
party space with beer, fun and experiences for our consumers to visit.

24. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Customer Journey
PLANNING JOURNEY & ARRIVAL PURCHASE EXPERIENCE ADVOCACY
Who’s free for a get-together?
Where should we go?
Icons: Flaticon
IN BAR - GET TOGETHERS WITH MATES
THINK
FEEL
DO
OPPORTUNITY
PLANNING ARRIVAL PURCHASE EXPERIENCE ADVOCACY
RETAIL - BUYING FOR OCCASIONS
THINK
FEEL
DO
OPPORTUNITY
Excited and anticipatory
Grab attention through stunts and/
or social - target media and press
Trains are awful, wish we’d walked.
Looking forward to a pint!
Longing and impatience
Targeted OOH/messaging near pubs
Activation in-bar
What’s on tap?
Do I want draft or a bottle?
Undecided and open
50% of decision making is at the
bar - discounts and offers here?
I like they’re supporting Team GB
I’m having a lot of fun
Happy and included
Encourage UGC
Surprise & Delight
The beer was great - I had such a
good time. I’ll follow them.
Excited and pumped-up
Continued targeting & offers
Reactive content online
What do I need for a BBQ/party?
What will the weather be like?
Excited and anticipatory
Get on the list - grab attention
through stunts and/or social
What’s on offer at the moment?
I want to get in and out quickly
Determination and opprtunistic
Party packs & kits
Targeted media/comms
How much is this? Is it worth it?
What can I do with all this stuff?
Excited and planning
Discount offers
Suggestions and recipes
This party is going really well!
I like their attitude
Happy and included
Encourage UGC
Surprise & Delight
The beer was great - my party went
so well. I’ll follow them.
Excited and pumped-up
Continued targeting & offers
Reactive content online
GET THEM WHILE
THEY’RE SEARCHING
FOR INFO
GET THEM AT THE BAR - 90% OF DRINKERS STICK WITH THEIR
FIRST CHOICE FOR THE REST OF THEIR SESSION
GET THEM TO
REMEMBER
THE FEELING
KEEP IN
TOP OF
MIND
GET THEM WHILE
THEY’RE SEARCHING
FOR INFO GET ON THE LIST GET THEM TO GET EXCITED BY YOUR BRAND
GET THEM TO
REMEMBER
THE FEELING
KEEP IN
TOP OF
MIND

25. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
Phasing
GOAL ACTIVITY SUPPORT
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
Remind consumers how they felt
during the London 2012 Olympics
Get people to express themselves
fully (go a bit OTT) for Team GB
during the Games
Encourage people to keep up the
spirit of fun by activating around
other British events
• Delegation to the Chap
Olympiad (mid-July)
• PR Stunt with influencers ‘going
OTT’
• Seeded media (BuzzFeed,
press)
• Turn pubs and bars into
bastions of OTT
• Sainsbury’s/Convenience Party
Kits
• Reactive social
• Social media (BuzzFeed, b/
vloggers)
• Discounts and offers in-bar
• OOH Activation & push
notifications
• Surprise & Delight
• Reactive Social
• Continue to work with
influencers/our fan delegation
to keep up the OTT spirit at
other British events
(e.g. cricket)
• OOH
• Partner discounts
• Social listening - surprise &
delight

26. Thank you
Sources:
Mintel Craft Beer Overview (2015)
Mintel Beer Report (Feb 2016)
Eventbrite Research - Millennials Want Experiences
Kantar TGI Clickstream
Kate Fox - ‘Watching the English’
Flaticon.com & Google Images
Headline Images: BuzzFeed, the Guardian, theConversation.com, Daily Express, Twitter

27. Anna Thairs | APSOTW May 2016
“Busy young men and women with a good level of disposable income”
Appendix - Audience
Home pride
Despite the British biting self-deprecating
humour, there’s a sense of home pride.
Experience Collectors
& Social Curators
Millennials spend more on ‘experiences’
than things, collecting and curating their
identity to share on social.
Lighter side of life
We hear a lot about how ambitious and
entrepreneurials are – but they’re also
passionate about having fun and enjoying
the ride.
47% think pubs are an important part of British life
62% think it’s important to respect traditional customs and
beliefs
42% agree that the 2012 Olympics had a positive effect on
ordinary Londoners’ lives
Represent 24% of spending on domestic holidays
34% buy goods produced in their own country whenever
they can
Despite a downturn in reported patriotism for Millennials
(only 15% describe themselves as ‘very’ patriotic, 30%
as slightly), they engage with tongue-in-cheek ‘rivalries’
online (e.g. #AmericansvBritish trending on Twitter)
65% of Millennials are driving the ‘experience economy’ -
valuing experiences not things, worth £420m each month
through things like pop-ups, interactive dining experiences
like Secret Cinema, or games such as the Crystal Maze
reboot.
Google searches containing the word ‘Tumblr’ have
overtaken ‘blog’ - a platform designed for social image
curation
60% are interested in other cultures
67% like to try new food products, and 65% new drinks
21% are interested In joining an online beer club
12% of drinkers would buy a new beer because it came
from an exotic location
69% want to have fun and enjoy life’s pleasures most in
life
42% see sport mainly as a way of having fun rather than
doing exercise
50% Buzzfeed traffic from 18-34s (60% mobile traffic,
75% traffic from social referrals)
60% drinkers drink to relax, 32% to have fun, 51% for
taste, 17% ease of social interaction
Sources: Mintel, TGI, Eventbrite Millennial Research, BuzzFeed, VisitBritain