Situation: 2020, most rubbish winter ever. But there were commercial opportunities for Stella Artois to become more prominent in home dining occasions in the UK. Meal promotions only boosted short-term associations, did little for the brand.

Brief: could we explore new experiences that would build better meaning for the brand at mealtimes? A pilot innovation was needed.

Objective: drive understanding that Stella Artois “makes mealtimes more special”.

Additional info: we had a beautiful brand campaign called “The Life Artois” which was about making more time to enjoy the good life with the people who matter most. Visually very impressive, the endline read; “You’re Never Too Far From The Life Artois”. Outside of ATL, the opportunity was to make that true.

We turned a box of beer into something beautiful and useful; a premium murder mystery game. It took Brits away from the most depressing winter ever and for two hours placed them on an exotic island full of luxury and intrigue. And we wrapped that core experience in beautiful touches that hosts would appreciate; a box you’d want to keep, containing chalices, beer, the mystery game, and a soundtrack to accompany the dinner entertainment.

The audience: ambitious 30-40 years olds who found fulfilment from whatever social life they managed to squeeze into hectic lives. They were willing to pay for it, with consumer research revealing a 34% growth in the treat and reward occasion over 2020.

Approach: we decided they didn’t need additional experiences that they would need to make more time for. We focussed therefore on creating experiences that enhanced what was already happening in their lives. We asked the audience to reminisce about the best dinner they had ever hosted. 36% of consumers stated that games make evenings with loved ones memorable. So it turned out that the food was not the biggest element; the entertainment around the dinner table was the biggest factor in UK. Take that foodies.

One thousand Murder Mystery sets were produced and sold via Amazon.co.uk from December ‘20 - April ’21. Some were sent to influencers.

Every executional element was given a premium treatment. The chalices were limited edition vintages. The soundtrack, featuring Bridgit Bardot & Pink Martini was printed on limited edition vinyl. We fully integrated with Amazon to make clues appear via Alexa (temporarily given a sensuous French accent). It was all art-directed with a 1920s travel poster aesthetic to match the ATL campaign.

We co-created the murder mystery with the best in the business. The mystery was designed to incorporate a wide number of players, both physical and virtual, depending on people’s lockdown scenario. This innovation alone created a lot of noise among the core game playing community, who were alerted to the game via endorsements from the prestigious Crime Writers Association.

Results: business impact. Sales, donations, traffic. Response rate. Impressions. Change in behaviour. Consumer awareness.

Business: our pilot innovation became a successful business in its own right; people were willing to pay £40-50 to be in a two-hour branded experience. 21,000 views came through to the Amazon page over Christmas and we ran out of stock as we struggled to keep up with demand. There is now some more stock available, but you’ll have to hurry.

Brand: an independent brand survey at the end of the activation period showed that Mystery In The Life Artois was driving a significant (+10% or above) increase in perception of the Stella Artois brand as “innovative”, “high quality” and “makes an occasion more special”.

Behaviour: by the time all the games are played, Britain will have enjoyed spending 700,000 extra minutes with us.