Surf's up but Chinnies beached

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Just when the surf was up and the babes were starting to care, the Chinnies are being retired.

In a surprise move this week, Lion Nathan says it will halt the much talked about television ads from this month and, as media-buying contracts end, fade out the billboard and print ads.

The decision comes as research shows that the two-year promotion starring various but consistently ugly chinheads has given Lion Red a big boost in a market that is losing share to premium brands.

But Lion believes the Chinnies have to go because they are at risk of becoming old bores.

The two-stage campaign that introduced the Chinnies to New Zealanders' living rooms in October 2000 came after a six-month on-air absence of Lion Red.

The brand, known for its high profile, good on ya Kiwi advertising (Red Blooded, What it Means to Be a Man, Red Men) began the campaign in a depressed market, at the end of a decade in which total beer consumption fell from more than 100 litres per head to 80. In the worst years the mainstream brands recorded drops of 3 per cent.

The Chinnies campaign, including extensive pre-testing, has tallied up more than a $2 million marketing spend. But the stars, despite their obvious aesthetic sins, have proved to be spunky little money spinners and an antidote to sinking sales figures.

Lion brand director Chris Fairbairn says telephone surveys show that the overall Chinnies campaign has increased the "most often" measure (the beer drunk most often by respondents) by 10 per cent for Auckland's target audience of 18 to 24-year-olds.

Brand preference increased by 5 per cent, and consumers' recall of the Lion Red advertising rose 15 per cent.

Graham Seatter, Lion's corporate affairs/sponsorship director, says it was the most successful campaign in seven years.

At one point the Chinnies were even looking for a female mate to widen their audience appeal but no suitable female chins were found - the concept was inescapably contradictory.

Saatchi & Saatchi creative director Andrew Tinning appears slightly shocked that the Chinnies are being readied for the knacker's yard.

But the firm's grip on the account does not appear to be under threat from Lion's diversification of its agencies.

In the last year, Meares Taine has taken the Speights, Lion Brown and Canterbury Draught accounts from Saatchi & Saatchi.

Colenso BBDO won the latest Lion Pils account and McCann-Erickson holds Stella.

But Seatter doubts that any other agency could handle it and Tinning points to the experience Saatchi & Saatchi has with the brand.

Tinning believes the campaign's unceremonious dumping was early in the Chinnies' potential lifespan.

The agency's original brief was to target the youth market and the response had been "gangbusters", says Tinning. "It has exceeded expectations, the research and tracking has shown [an increase] in likeability. All of it indicates the [brand] is going up.

"We were under no illusions, we knew they had a lifespan of two to three years. You can't keep them going forever."

But Tinning reckons the Chinnies could have rocked on for another year. He says the Speights Pride of the South campaign has lasted around a decade.

Fairbairn says the Chinnies characters have run their course and he expects a fresh campaign to start in October, to catch the summer rush. Discussions on a new campaign are under way and Tinning says he has some "intuitive ideas", but no plan yet.

Fairbairn recalls his first contact with the kooky creatures with fondness: "We saw the genius in the idea from the start," he says.

"[The chins] were depicting the typical beer consumer, and if you take the concept literally it was just three guys sitting around taking the piss out of every-day situations, but it was quite surreal."

But the Chinnies' growth from blokey activities such as fishing and having barbecues to the fast-paced DJ sets and surfing action of the current ads (to make them "cooler", says Fairbairn) has left the Chinnies searching for more soul.

It has not been a total dream run. The original Chinnies had two brushes with the Advertising Standards Authority, one alleging the promoting of liquor to minors and another a portrayal of a close association between boating and drinking.

The complaints were thrown out, but dislike of the Chinnies could also be found on the streets.

This year, a vox pop by the Sunday Star-Times found teens were unenthusiastic about the Chinnies. One 16-year-old said she found the ads revolting and that they would stop her buying the product.

At the time, Seatter said the comment was fine but that 16-year-olds should not be drinking the stuff anyway. He now agrees there has been some negative feedback about the Chins, and, of most concern, from the dominant Lion Red market of 30-plus males.

But even negative comments are preferable to none.

Fairbairn says the Chinnies were part of a larger Lion Red campaign, including high-profile sports sponsorships, that combined to work in the company's favour.

"It's really important to get people talking about a brand, but it links in with everything else. Love them or like them or be indifferent, people are talking about them."

The Chinnies also created strong brand recognition.

Fairbairn says any talk at a drinking hole where conversation turned to the Chinnies would have automatic recognition factor for Lion Red.

"When people are talking about Speights, they don't say that horse for Speights, but when they talk about the Chins they are talking about Lion Red. It is a very important communication for us."

But the Chinnies had to go, says Seatter. The market had plateaued and the Chinnies were at risk of becoming old bores or, in a worst-case scenario, shrinking Lion Red's fan base.

But they are expected to leave a hangover.

Fairbairn expects them to be recalled like the "Red like a Fire Engine" catchline, to become part of Lion Red folklore.