Brief: To develop a new creative platform for the revival of one of the iconic names in Irish brewing.
The Solution: Given that Sullivan’s is effectively a new craft beer attached to a name with great historical value in the brewing world, we wanted to give the creative a feel of both the modern and the old.
The look we felt most nailed the tone we wanted to get across was the style of old Terry Gilliam animations from Monty Python. A lot of old-timey sourced stock images giving it a retro feel. Very collage-based and hand-made.
This style gave us license to be incredibly versatile. We created microvideos, illustrated images and animations, all with a strong, instantly recognisable Sullivan’s style and sense of humour. Here are some examples of this being applied to their Social Media content.
Post copy: A nod to our legendary womenfolk brewers of old! Kilkenny’s 17th century brewsters were commonly given the nickname “alewives” as they’d brew up batches of red ale from their cottages. Our kind of women!! 😍🍺
Post copy: If you’re in charge of the turkey this year, why not baste your turkey in Sullivan’s Red Ale, like this lad did! Your family will thank you for it!
Post copy: Kilkenny is a town with no end of creepy yarns. Like this one about the sentry of Foulksrath Castle, who fell asleep on the clock and instead of being handed the P45, was thrown off the castle battlements to his death. They say you can still hear his footsteps echo on the Kilkenny streets, and that’s why we always leave out a midnight pint in our Tap Room on Halloween.
Post copy: This guy is a personal hero of ours; the more we learn about him the more we love him.
During the dark days of the famine, Richard Sullivan became a champion of the great Kilkenny people. By day, he was a simple ale brewer. But by night, he opened the doors of the brewery and doled out soup to the hungry. A real-life superhero!
Post copy: Brewing’s in our blood, but gambling definitely isn’t. In 1918 one of us lost the whole brewery on a horse in Deauville to try and impress a woman. We learnt our lesson: we only bet on the dogs now.
Creative Direction: Alexis Bouckaert
Art Direction / Concept: Peggy O Neill
CopyWriting: Peter McGann
Animation & Design: Gustavo Richieri