Michael Power is an advertising character

Advertising character

An advertising character is a fictional character that appears within advertising and marketing materials for a given product or service.-See also:*Moe anthropomorphism*List of American advertising characters...

, the cornerstone of a large marketing

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 campaign by the beer company Guinness

Guinness

Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...

 to promote its products in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 from 1999 to 2006. The character was played by Cleveland Mitchell, who was born in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 and raised in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. By 2003, it became one of the most well-known alcohol advertising

Alcohol advertising

Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with tobacco advertising, it is one of the most highly-regulated forms of marketing...

 campaigns in Africa.

Creation

In 1999, the marketing firm Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide

Saatchi & Saatchi

Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...

 was trying to turn Guinness in Africa into what they call a "Lovemark

Lovemark

Lovemarks is a marketing concept that is intended to replace the idea of brands. The idea was first widely publicized in a book of the same name written by Kevin Roberts, CEO of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. In the book Roberts claims, "Brands are running out of juice". He considers...

", what they describe as a brand that enjoys "loyalty beyond reason" from consumers. The African market for Guinness at the time was faltering. Saatchi & Saatchi's goal was thus to advertise Guinness to the diverse populations across the continent and to double Guinness sales by 2005. In the words of African Managing Director Eric Frank, "... we had to find what we called the Simple, Universal, Relevant Truth that would persuade a continent to adore Guinness. We expressed it this way: Inside me there's a powerful, heroic, assured person. I want to live my life as that person. When I drink Guinness I become more fully who I am." Celia Couchman, African Marketing Director at the time, provided the answer: an African answer to James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 with no particulars such as his age or nationality to relegate him to any particular ethnic group or region. Michael Power was born.

Michael Power campaign

Instead of having Power deliver a straightforward sales pitch, Saatchi & Saatchi starred him as the hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

 of a series of mini-adventures on radio and television. The adverts, averaging three to five minutes in length, place Power in various action scenarios, where his resourcefulness and virility allow him to escape from danger or rescue the damsel in distress

Damsel in distress

The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...

. Beginning in 2002, other adverts have featured the character in more domestic scenarios, such as attending a surprise party or guiding taxi cabs to illuminate a street festival with their headlights. His catchphrase, "Guinness brings out the power in you!" thus casts the beer in the same positive light as the strong, virile, triumphant hero..

The films were popular with African television stations, who aired them as free programming. Power and the campaign that surrounded him are also notable because the advertisements were shot on location in Africa using African actors and crews. Mitchell himself commented (as Power), "We are focusing on stories that bring the true strength of Africa. We want to highlight the way we live, the way we talk, the way we play and the way we do everything that makes us unique as Africans."

The campaign worked. Guinness led the African beer market by 50% in 2000. Brand recognition reached a reported 95%, and volume growth rose up to 50% in some markets. Guinness sales doubled by 2003, two years ahead of schedule. Power's face became one of the most recognisable in Africa, as it adorned billboards, cardboard standees, posters, and television advertisements in African countries where Guinness is sold. Mitchell, dressed all in black, made numerous personal appearances as Power each year, visiting television and radio stations, newspapers, and Guinness breweries and distributors. His fame was such that his appearances received extensive news coverage, and many news services did not realize that he was merely a fictional character. Guinness did its best to hide this fact and even constructed a detailed public persona for the character: He is in his mid-30s, single, was born in Africa, but was raised and educated in the United States. Consequently, many Africans speculated wildly about Power's country and village of origin. Mitchell, as Powers, answered questions with sloganlike ambiguity: "Nigerians should always believe in themselves . . . . They should hang in there and always believe that our best days are always ahead of us. Never give up on your dreams". When questioned about his background, the actor gave vague answers such as "I am a man of Africa". One admirer in Douala

Douala

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...

 remarked, "He makes us feel that we too can do things that other people can admire."

In 2003, Guinness took this campaign to a new level with the feature film Critical Assignment (French: Engagement critique). Mitchell, credited as Michael Power, stars. The film’s focus on the world’s water crisis gained UNEP endorsement and the film carries their Logo.
Assignment was uniquely shot in five African countries engaging only local actors, and crew. According to Frank, it is "the largest Pan-African marketing initiative ever undertaken by Guinness Africa".[3]
The film went on to be distributed in the USA and the rest of the world. Opening the NY African Film Festival at the Lincoln Centre, it also won the Jury Prize for best Feature Film at The Hollywood Black Film festival.

In 2002, Guinness applied the Michael Power formula to Asia with the character Adam King. Nevertheless, Diageo

Diageo

Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

, owner of the Guinness brand, cancelled the Michael Power campaign in 2006. They replaced it with the "Guinness Greatness" campaign, which they claim emphasises the "drop of greatness" in everyone, in contrast to the high-tension heroics of the Power character.