
Search is fragmenting – credibility and trust create the new visibility
Online search behaviour has changed significantly with the rise of AI. How can African brands adapt to this new marketing landscape?
Photo: Guinness
As part of its English Premier League sponsorship, global beer brand Guinness has unveiled a new campaign for its Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.
Devised by creative agency VML UK, the campaign features a documentary-style hero spot and was shot in Kenya using a combination of 16mm analogue film and digital footage.
The spot follows ‘matchday fandom as it’s really lived’. This includes a gospel service, a fan who designs and makes his own kits, and a salon creating football-inspired braids.
“The best way to tell this story was to let fans lead it,” says Somnath Dasgupta, Global Marketing Director at Guinness.
“Football fandom gives people a space to really belong, and that feeling is built as much in the shared emotions and rituals around matchday as it is in the game itself.
“With Guinness Extra, we’re boldly elevating the fan experience by putting real Premier League supporters at the centre of the story, in a way that reflects the same ‘Extra’ character Foreign Extra Stout is known for.”
Adds Ryan McManus, chief creative officer at VML UK: “Guinness has an incredible history of storytelling, and Guinness Extra is a chance to write the next chapter with the people who actually live it.
“We went into communities across Africa and South-East Asia to find the fans who don’t just watch the Premier League – they wear it, drive it and build their lives around it. Our job was to honour that energy with the same level of craft and emotion Guinness is known for.”
The campaign will run across TV, social media and digital channels with out-of-home to follow.
You can watch the brand campaign video on YouTube here.

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