Swimblack
Encyclopedia
Swimblack is a 1998 advertisement for Guinness
-brand draught
stout
broadcast in the United Kingdom. It is the first in the Good things come to those who wait advertising campaign
created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
who had won the Guinness account from Ogilvy & Mather
in January 1998. The centrepiece of the Swimblack campaign is a 60-second television and cinema commercial written by Tom Carty, art directed by Walter Campbell and directed by Jonathan Glazer
, which depicted an aging local sports hero's annual swimming race from an offshore buoy
to his brother's seafront pub against the "clock" of pint of Guinness being "correctly" poured at the bar. The ad was shot in the remote Italian village of Monopoli
and used local villagers for the crowd scenes. The aims of the campaign were to promote Guinness in general, to turn around the negative consumer opinion of the length of time required to correctly pour a pint of Guinness from the tap, usually quoted as 119.5 seconds, and to encourage bartenders to take the time to do so.
Print and billboard spots for Swimblack each tied back to the central theme of the campaign, which was successful at boosting sales, particularly among the older male demographic. The television/cinema commercial proved fairly popular with critics within the advertising and television industries, netting a number of awards - including a Creative Circle Gold for Best Editing and a gold in the British Television Advertising Awards in the Alcoholic Beverages category. Following the success of Swimblack, permission was granted by Diageo
, owners of the Guinness brand, to AMV BBDO to pursue the campaign further, and led to the creation of the 1999 piece, Surfer
.
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...
-brand draught
Draught beer
Draught beer is beer served from a cask or a pressurised keg.-History of draught:Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served directly from the barrel and carried to the customer. The Old English word for carry was dragen which developed into a series of related words,...
stout
Stout
Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery....
broadcast in the United Kingdom. It is the first in the Good things come to those who wait advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
AMV BBDO is an advertising agency that works with over 85 brands, including BT, BlackBerry, Sainsbury’s, Aviva, Walkers and Mars. AMV identifies and addresses business challenges for its clients with integrated campaigns, incorporating digital, social, experiential, print or broadcast...
who had won the Guinness account from Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
in January 1998. The centrepiece of the Swimblack campaign is a 60-second television and cinema commercial written by Tom Carty, art directed by Walter Campbell and directed by Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer is an English director of films, commercials and music videos.-Biography:After studying theatre design at Nottingham Trent University, Glazer started out directing theatre and making film and television trailers, including award-winning work for the BBC...
, which depicted an aging local sports hero's annual swimming race from an offshore buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
to his brother's seafront pub against the "clock" of pint of Guinness being "correctly" poured at the bar. The ad was shot in the remote Italian village of Monopoli
Monopoli
Monopoli is a town and comune in Italy, in the province of Bari, region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies about 40 km southeast from Bari. It has about 50,000 inhabitants....
and used local villagers for the crowd scenes. The aims of the campaign were to promote Guinness in general, to turn around the negative consumer opinion of the length of time required to correctly pour a pint of Guinness from the tap, usually quoted as 119.5 seconds, and to encourage bartenders to take the time to do so.
Print and billboard spots for Swimblack each tied back to the central theme of the campaign, which was successful at boosting sales, particularly among the older male demographic. The television/cinema commercial proved fairly popular with critics within the advertising and television industries, netting a number of awards - including a Creative Circle Gold for Best Editing and a gold in the British Television Advertising Awards in the Alcoholic Beverages category. Following the success of Swimblack, permission was granted by 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....
, owners of the Guinness brand, to AMV BBDO to pursue the campaign further, and led to the creation of the 1999 piece, Surfer
Surfer (Guinness)
Surfer is a critically acclaimed integrated advertising campaign launched in 1999 by Diageo to promote Guinness-brand draught stout in the United Kingdom. The cornerstone of the campaign is a television commercial, originally 60 seconds long, which centred around a Polynesian surfer...
.
Additional credits
- Creative Director: Peter Souter
- Copywriter: Tom Carty
- Art Director: Walter Campbell
- Director of Photography: Ivan Bird
- Editor: Rick Lawley
- Music Production Company: Air-Edel Associates, London
- Music Arranger: Graham Preskett
- Online: Smoke & Mirrors, London
External links
- http://www.guinness.com/ie_en/ads/classic/1990sTVs/swimblack/
- http://www.brandrepublic.com/Campaign/News/23879/