Piortr Piechocki/Kompania PiwowarskaOlimpia Osinska/Kompania PiwowarskaImage Art/Creative Agency Severe legal limitations were imposed on beer advertising in Poland. It is prohibited in outdoor and on TV before 11 pm. Low readership makes newspapers and magazines useless for mass male audiences. Television after 11pm became the key communication channel for over 10 active beer brands in Poland, turning this time band into a beer advert festival of highly questionable effectiveness.In this difficult environment Pilsner Urquell – hardly known in Poland - had a very ambitious goal of cutting through the clutter and significantly increasing its spontaneous awareness despite a small budget.A secondary objective was to build image of PU as the first and original pilsner, which changed the world of beer. Starcom came up with an idea to dominate the beer time band in two key stations by integrating break bumpers at the beginning and end of each commercial break with short Pilsner spots. A separate, special creative solution was prepared each time on the basis of the standard stations’ bumper used across the whole day. Thus in the consumers’ minds bumpers before 11 pm were closely associated with Pilsner spots lessening the effect of the legal time limitation.Pilsner bumpers were aired in the first four breaks after 11 pm in two key stations. Thus competition was blocked off – they were forced to air all their spots in breaks starting and ending with a Pilsner message. The whole idea came from the media team, as a way of breaking through the overwhelming competitive clutter in the beer category during the legally permitted time band after 11 pm. The campaign was special because it provided the brand with an effective and efficient solution in an extremely difficult environment:- ensured standout against incredible beer clutter after 11 pm (break bumpers had never been for any commercial purpose before in Poland)- extended the effect of the advertising beyond the permitted time band (through creative consistency standard break bumpers across the day generate associations with the Pilsner bumpers after 11 pm)- blocked the competition by dominating the beginning and end of each break in the narrow permitted time band- supported the image of a brand which changed the world of beer by “changing the world of beer advertising” in Poland.

The whole idea came from the media team, as a way of breaking through the overwhelming competitive clutter in the beer category during the legally permitted time band after 11 pm.