A campaign series of films for the legendary Madrid beer brand ‘Mahou’. Beer and tapas, pairings with acclaimed chef Mark Sargent.
This series of films was part of the campaign to launch Mahou beer into the UK market.
Madrid is synonymous with great food, predominantly the superb tapas that you can find throughout the city. What better way to introduce UK consumers to Mahou than through tapas dishes that pair perfectly with Mahou beer!
Working with Mahou and the Telegraph Commercial Video team we conceptualised and created the video campaign that was to be filmed over 4 days in 4 different locations.
We wanted the tone of the films to reflect the Madrid tapas culture, celebrating the social aspects of sharing food, and of course, enjoying a beer with friends.
With each film only 2 minutes in length we had to think creatively to pack in all of the information that Mahou wanted to get across alongside the food content.
The campaign was greatly received by the client and viewers, almost as well as the leftover tapas was received by the crew.
The content usually has to do two jobs at once, build product awareness while also establishing a cultural or emotional association the audience doesn't already have. That often means weighting the storytelling toward atmosphere and lifestyle as much as the product itself, which is exactly what carried Mahou's Madrid tapas culture into a UK audience unfamiliar with the brand.
Short formats force hard editorial decisions early, since there's no room to include every message a client might want. Treating each film as a self-contained story with its own beginning and end, rather than a compressed version of a longer film, tends to produce a stronger result.
Genuine collaboration from the concept stage, rather than being handed a finished brief, tends to keep tone and execution more consistent, especially across multi-location shoots where a shared understanding of the goal matters more than a rigid script.