Cobra Launches Biggest Ever Tv Ad Campaign 'Unusual Thing, Excellence' Backed By £10m Spend Cobra Beer has announced the launch of 'Unusual Thing, Excellence' - a heavyweight through-the-line campaign targeting discerning 25 - 34 year old lager drinkers. It will include Cobra's biggest ever national television campaign, which breaks on 26th September just before kick-off on itv1's UEFA Champions League coverage of Benfica versus Manchester United. The campaign has a total spend of £10 million pounds and is aimed at increasing brand awareness and driving rate of sale across Cobra's fast-growing distribution network. The TV ad was made by top directing duo Danny & Ezra, the creative brains behind several recent MTV and Nike ads (including the acclaimed 'Chain Reaction'). Stylish and aspirational in tone, it focuses on the journey made by an intriguing, slightly mysterious and effortlessly cool hero (actor Jake Canuso) - on his way up to a rooftop bar in a lift. What follows is a truly unusual tale giving the audience an insight into the excellence of Cobra Beer and the lengths the hero is willing to go to in order to be first at the bar to get his hands on the last bottle. Matthew Howells, Director of Joshua - the agency who devised the creative for the campaign - commented: "As befitting a brand challenging major players in the premium beer market in its appeal among style-conscious urban drinkers, Cobra demanded a strong, integrated campaign to take it to the next level. We began thinking about the Cobra philosophy of looking at a problem, approaching it differently and doing something better. From this we came up with the strap line - 'Cobra: Unusual Thing, Excellence' - an embodiment we believe of the Cobra brand." Simon Edwards, Marketing Director of Cobra Beer added: "With the Unusual Thing, Excellence campaign we are aiming to build on our strong foundation within Indian restaurants and capitalise on Cobra's rapidly growing presence within the UK's mainstream beer market. We are confident that these ads will really capture viewers' imaginations and communicate the spirit of the Cobra brand - the fact that it is unique and unusual and that above all, it is an excellent beer." Unusual Thing, Excellence will reflect the essence of Cobra Beer as a brand that is unusual and strives to do things differently and better to change the marketplace forever, and as a beer that is multi award-winning and the epitome of excellence, having for the second year running won more Gold medals (12) than any other beer company in the world at Brussels' prestigious Monde Selection 2006. The TV ads will consist of 50, 30 and 10-second executions, to be shown on itv1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and digital stations including Sky One, E4, More 4, itv2, itv3 and itv4 up until December. Media space has been bought on a programme basis following data obtained from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) to be as targeted to Cobra's intended audience as possible. This will be supported by tactical press adverts, 4,000 tube cards on the London Underground, on-trade and supermarket promotions, related POS merchandise and website and PR activity. top