5 June 2020. On a sunny Friday a!ernoon a discussion arose at the bar of Michelle’s Pub in Izegem (Belgium), thebrasserie run by local family brewery Vanhonsebrouck, known for its Kasteelbier, Filou, Bacchus, Brigand, andSt. Louis beers, between Xavier Vanhonsebrouck, the sympathetic brewery’s CEO, and Gertjan De Smet, CreativeDirector of Geronimo, the content agency which already helped Vanhonsebrouck create several successful marketingcampaigns. Topic of their discussion: how well-known Kasteelbier actually is, as it seems like this mother of allBelgian special beers has been lacking a media presence for years. According to Vanhonsebrouck, noted for his level-headedness, Kasteelbier is much more well-known than many residents of Flanders (dare to) assume and peoplefrom Izegem to Tokyo talk about “castle beer from Belgium”. Even though the beer has not yet literally reached theJapanese capital, Kasteelbier and its fans are easily found in virtually all capital cities between here and there. Anexpansion of which the brewery can be rightfully proud, but Vanhonsebrouck felt that Geronimo had a point aboutthe general public not being su"iciently aware of the beer’s existence.“Since the commercial launch of Kasteel Donker in 1991, our Kasteelbier has been available in over60 countries.I am not exaggerating when I say that we receive emails from Kasteel fans almostevery day.Those messages come from all over the world.” Xavier VanhonsebrouckThe beer brand’s thirtieth anniversary brand seemed an ideal opportunity to do something about this, and the twocompanies began working out an ambitious plan. This plan became even more ambitious following the production-related di"iculties resulting from the pandemic and later, the war between two neighbouring countries. However,there will always be challenging times, and they did not go back on their decision to turn the story of Kasteelbier’sinternational progress into a cinematographic story.
Geronimo- Indiestraat 12 B, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium - www.geronimo.be -gertjan@geronimo.beStrategyMaarten Van Daele, a freelance brand strategist at the time and meanwhile global strategic director at Media Monks,was engaged to turn Kasteelbier’s consumer, product, and brand insights into an emotion-driven campaign strategy.The simplified outcome of this complex task was as follows: Kasteelbier can be considered an opulent beer in bothquality and composition. Originally only for sale directly from the Castle of Ingelmunster, it has become availablearound the globe for everyone to enjoy since then. You do not need to live in a castle to enjoy a few moments ofopulence and a lavish glass of Kasteelbier allows everyone to experience such moments: moments of true wealth.And in recent years, Kasteelbier has made these moments possible everywhere on earth.The campaign motto “True wealth can be found everywhere” was born.“Kasteel is more than a beer brand, it is a beer moment. A moment of true wealth. And thanks to ourglobal expansion, you can find this true wealth everywhere.” Xavier VanhonsebrouckCampaign conceptWords are traditionally followed by actions, and it was now time to turn the strategy into an e"ective campaign plan.Jef Boes, photographer, film director, globetrotter and, not unimportant, Kasteel Rouge fan, joined the team alongwith his Initials LA agency and helped Geronimo create and produce an exquisitely simple campaign. The campaignshares stories of a day in the life of six residents of six di"erent countries. Cinematographic footage captures thecountries’ cultural wealth, while also highlighting how Belgian beer culture has slowly gained a spot there. Each filmends with a familiar moment of (self)reflection at the end of the day. During this moment, we see the protagonistdeliberately opt for a Belgian Kasteelbier over their own country’s traditional beverage. This moment of true wealthis captured in a campaign portrait, also made by Jef Boes.Sidenote: One of the stories in the campaign series is that of Ivan and was shot in St. Petersburg (Russia) a fewmonths before Putin’s sudden invasion of the Ukraine. The campaign film will not be silenced out of respect for thelocal population, who in large numbers expressed their disapproval about the necessity of this war, but will also notbe shown in the campaign media out of respect for the Ukrainian people.“In a rapidly changing and increasingly busy society, the strength of a beer brand like Kasteel is theability to facilitate and motivate people to take time to reflect on what is truly important; creatingand experiencing moments of true wealth with the help of a local cult product.” Gertjan De SmetAround the world in 13 monthsIt was already clear that this project was ambitious, but successive COVID waves and travel restrictions, followedalmost immediately by the war in Ukraine, led to serious delays. The campaign shoot, which was initially scheduledas a single trip barely exceeding a month, ultimately took more than year. Each of the six campaign productions tooksix days on average, including travel there and back, a final scouting trip on location, at least two days to shoot thevideo and an entire day to record the photographic images. Many diaries were sacrificed to the creation andrestructuring of the associated schedule.“Investing in creative images and custom music is essential to create a compelling story that will beproperly seen, experienced, and remembered by the public.” Jef BoesSoundtracks of true wealthStories revolve around emotions, and as everyone will acknowledge in these times of massive content consumption,emotions are not only invoked by beautiful images. Music is also a major component of such experiences. A goodcomposition draws you deeper into the story, provides context and elicits goosebumps. Geronimo and Jef Boescontacted Peter Baert, head of goosebumps at his own renowned sound studio Raygun in Brussels, to create theseelements. The film composer, who received international accolades for Hollywood production “The Water Man” in
Geronimo- Indiestraat 12 B, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium - www.geronimo.be -gertjan@geronimo.be2021, was immediately enthusiastic on being introduced to the project. He succeeded in creating a soundtrack thatperfectly encompassed the spirit of the country in question on a not-so-lavish budget. For virtually all countries, andaccordingly, for every film, he had local artists from those countries come to the studio to make sure of the details, or“couchkes”, as they say in Brussels. These soundtracks will be released on Spotify in the near future.The start of a larger storyAccording to Vanhonsebrouck, this first Kasteel campaign in years is the start of a much larger story that he wants touse to reflect on the rich cultures of the world through the eyes of Kasteel using content creation. Content that showsthe great blend that arises when a thoroughly Belgian culture finds its way abroad and inspires people to reflect onthe true beauty in life. Moments of true wealth. For the record, this story may even end in a dedicated metaversewhere you can have your avatar follow along on this trip around the world to gain new inspiration every day.The campaign will soon have its own Spotify channel where you can listen to the soundtracks for all the countries,and a concept for a gorgeous co"ee table book is being outlined as we speak. The campaign films and images,inspiring behind-the-scenes portraits by Jef Boes and stories of local populations’ true wealth will be collected in abeautiful book, one that every resident of Flanders who loves travel and beer will want in their lounge.Campaign launch programmed around travel showsThe campaign will launch with 7” clips from the 60” master video programmed around the adventurous “DestinationX” travel show, also created by Geronimo, which can be seen on VTM (DPG Media) every Monday at 20:35. Print, POS,and digital will subsequently be introduced and there will be another linear tie-in in late September with “SergioHerman Crossing Borders”, a popular culinary travel show by Geronimo, also on Belgian television channel VTM
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