Ads Review - Sam Adams’ Your Cousin From Boston (And Why Recurring Ad Characters Rock)
This week in the Ads Review, I’m braking down Sam Adams’ recent campaign featuring “Your Cousin From Boston.” Sam Adams, a brewer with undeniable Bostonian roots has created a campaign celebrating the more stereotypical parts of Boston culture with their cousin character. The cousin from Boston is a gregarious, aloof, somewhat abrasive but ultimately lovable character who commits various social faux pas with a Bostonian accent. Check out a few of the best ads in the campaign, and then I’ll break down why using a consistent ad character is a great idea for consumer brands.
The Best Ones Are Self Aware
It’s counter-intuitive, but very strategic: Your Cousin From Boston is not a very likable character. But a brand willing to make fun of itself a little bit, and provide humor to their audience will be endeared to their viewers. Only a brand team willing to take risks would create an abrasive character like this to represent the Sam Adams in advertising. But when we think back to other beer ads, playing it safe doesn’t pay off. Think of Dos Equis’ The Most Interesting Man In The World, or Old Spice’s The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Character. These over-the-top characters weren’t the definition of classic spokesmen, but they firmly embedded themselves into American culture by being self aware and funny.
They Have A Shot At Becoming Part Of Culture
Speaking of becoming part of the culture, recurring characters in advertising have a much better shot at doing this. Every brand dreams of creating a campaign that people repeat for years to come. Budweiser did it with the “Wazzup” commercials in 1999, and those were recurring characters for years to come after that. Sam Adams has been running Your Cousin From Boston for almost a year now, variating the storylines for different holidays and events. I hope they keep it up.
They Open A Storyline
Ad fatigue is real, and when busy people who are watching TV to relax start seeing the same commercials again and again, their brains automatically tune them out. Brands can conquer this by using recurring characters, like Your Cousin From Boston. When people see a character they’re familiar with in a new commercial, there’s an open storyline in their brain. they want to see what will happen to someone they know.
Closing
Recurring characters are a great way for brands to advertise. At the end of the day creativity and humor is a generous act that advertisers can still use to connect with customers. Shout out to Sam Adams for doing it well with Your Cousin From Boston.
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