Castle Lager, South Africa’s national beer, has always been a beacon of unity & belonging across the social strata. But twenty-four years on from democracy, South African society is arguably more fractured than ever with racial tensions and other prejudices bubbling to the surface. We are quick to label people who are different to ourselves, creating stereotypes that allow discrimination and hatred to thrive. As a brand committed to the dream of a cohesive nation, Castle Lager was tasked to help bring about a shift in the national psyche towards greater awareness, positivity and appreciation for one another’s differences.

For a competitive brand, labels are life and death. In today’s polarised world, people too live or die by the labels that stereotype them. As South Africa’s national beer and a force for unity, Castle Lager acted on the insight that we are divided because we are conditioned to label one another. This meant sacrificing its most valuable asset to spotlight the problem – sending 4.4 million bottles to market without their iconic labels, across 8000 stores, stripping the face from a brand worth $3.172 bn.

Castle Lager targets a young adult demographic, appealing to them with its long-held ethos of friendship and belonging. Learnings from research show that South Africa is transforming to embrace broader, more inclusive collectives of diverse people. A new generation of consumers are finding fellowship and inspiration by opening themselves up to networks better able to expand their worldview.

However, this was not being reflected in popular culture, with a slew of racial outbursts going viral in the social space. Castle could not stand passively by, watching these incidents proliferate.

As the South African beacon of national belonging, Castle Lager addressed the tension that we weren’t coming together as a nation because we had become pre-conditioned to stereotype and label one another. In a world where labels keep people apart, Castle Lager wanted to be the brand that brought people back together - so it lost its own label in protest.

Bottles without labels were introduced at the Castle Rugby Incoming Series matches between England and South Africa in June 2018. Mass distribution continued until 14 November 2018. A total of 4.4 million bottles were sent to market, available across 8000 stores nationwide. This initiative was part of a wider campaign which broke with a 60’’ branded film on the 23rd July 2018 and ran for just under one month, accompanied by dynamic social media content combining stackables, canvas ads, carousels, Twitter polls & Instagram stories. The assets created from the original 60’’ film became Castle Lager’s best performing social media content of all time.

Sales for 2017 were reflecting an alarming downward trend with its volume growth at -3%. Consideration and usage amongst consumers 18 - 24 was at an all-time low, bottoming out at 16.9%. Within the first 24hrs of launch 978 618 impressions were registered, with a campaign total of 199mil social impressions. An additional 30mil bottles were sold versus the previous fiscal. Castle’s stance captured the mood of the public and a nationwide movement was sparked, causing debate to erupt across every platform. Among the brand’s 18-24 year-old target market, brand meaning dramatically improved from a score of 129 to 137. This was significant as mainstream brands had been shown to lose ground in this area in recent years. An overall result of 95% positive sentiment was testimony to the approval of a huge number of South Africans - because a brand had surrendered its own identity to give theirs back.