Premium drinks brand, StrangeLove Beverage Co., has launched its first mainstream above the line (ATL) brand campaign with creative agency Today the Brave. The “Drinks for drinks’ sake” campaign is running in metro Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
The brand was launched in 2012 by James Bruce and Stafford Fox in Byron Bay, with an organic ginger beer. It has since grown into more than 40 products across three categories – Lo-Cal Soda, Mineral Water, and Premium Mixers.
Asahi Beverages acquired StrangeLove in October 2022 with the founders and management team staying with the business.
The reality of the portfolio was what Today the Brave called “a horrifically complex supply chain of exotic and expensive ingredients”, which also delivered challenges in terms of articulating “a clear brand truth”.
StrangeLove co-founder and creative director, James Bruce, said he was “drowning in a prison of my own making”.
“After twelve years of carelessly pursuing every culinary avenue and flavour trend, we ended up with an impressive portfolio of delectable – and prohibitively expensive – beverages but still had no way to communicate what the hell we actually do,” Bruce said.
He said Today the Brave was “instrumental” in helping define and distill the brand’s DNA.
“After many long sessions with Today the Brave, we landed on a simple truth: we make drinks, for no other reason than making great drinks. We honestly aspire to make drinks more interesting and make drinking drinks better for drink drinkers everywhere,” he said.
Today the Brave creative partner, Jade Manning, said working with StrangeLove was a “no-brainer” for the agency.
“They’re brave, disrupting the category, and to be frank, a lot of fun to work with,” Manning said. “As an innovative Australian-made brand, they’re really shaking things up in the premium mixer and adult soft drink space, which is ripe for disruption – and a sense of humour.”
The brand platform – “Dinks for drinks’ sake” – encapsulates the company’s mission of “making impossibly good drinks possible”. “It is not confined to any one product type or category, allowing the brand to flex its irreverent and often unintentionally honest, dark-humoured brand tone across its entire portfolio,” Manning said.
The campaign will run across metro Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
