Stella Artois' "Reassuringly Expensive" campaign made the brand famous. Forty years later, it's all but forgotten outside of the advertising industry. To revive the brand, we decided to harness what made it successful: elevating the product as something worth more than anything else. But first, we needed to redefine what "worth" means in a culture that values experiences over material things. Our new platform, "Worth More," celebrates the moments of genuine connection our beer facilitates.

When deciding who best to represent Stella Artois in this new era, globally-renowned soccer star David Beckham was an obvious choice. Sure, he may be known for his trophies, sports cars, and expensive taste, but if the hit 2023 Netflix documentary "Beckham" taught us anything, it's that this man truly understands what's worth most in life—his family and friends.

We had the platform. We had the partner. Now we needed a way to launch it.

Most brands launch their new campaigns by plastering a celebrity's face all over their ads. But unlike other celebrities, David Beckham is recognizable by just the tattoos on his hands. So to launch Stella Artois' new brand platform, we turned one of the world's most recognizable faces into the world's most famous hand model, putting our product front and center in advertising's most iconic placements. We grabbed fans attention by twisting the expectation of what a celebrity ad can be, causing more conversation than a billboard of his face ever would have.

After analyzing past celebrity brand launches, we knew we had to take a completely different approach if we wanted to stand out. In deciding not to include Beckham's name on the execution, we took a risk, but it was a calculated one. Media outlets keep such close tabs on the soccer star that they immediately picked it up and told our story for us. In addition, we captured photographs of the billboards themselves to re-share on Instagram, knowing both Beckham and his fans are extremely active there. To keep the conversation going, we got images of our product (in Beckham's hands) added to restaurants' "Wall of Fame" around the globe, landing the story that our product was the star all along.

We first launched Beckham's hand model shots on Instagram to coincide with the announcement of the "Worth More”platform and the release of our first TV spots featuring the soccer star. Shortly after, we followed it with a full-page print in The New York Times and an OOH in Times Square, photos of which made the rounds on social media, inciting even more conversation about the brand and new partnership. Now that Beckham's hands were as famous as he is, we got our ads into a media space usually reserved for famous faces—the Wall of Fame in iconic restaurants around the globe. Beckham's hands, and more importantly, our beer, will be immortalized there forever.

In response to the launch and subsequent rollout, Yahoo! called the Beckham partnership "A Natural Fit." When the campaign made it to social media, fans and media outlets alike praised the brand for our cleverness and willingness to break the mold. Even Guiness commented to say they "recognize those hands." This simple idea kicked off a brand campaign that garnered 735 million earned impressions and was covered by outlets like CNN, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and more.