Nic Kostouros is the integrated creative director of South African agency Promise, which uses insights and data to drive their creative work for major brands. He shares how his team drew inspiration from simple marketing tactics to solve a socioeconomic problem for Castle Lite in Tanzania.

n a hot climate like Tanzania, it’s a no brainer that beer drinkers want their beverages cold. But when it emerged that tavern owners in the informal market were turning off their fridges to save on running costs, Castle Lite, a beer that has staked its reputation on being “extra cold”, faced a complex problem. How could the brand help these businesses survive in tough economic times, while also protecting its unique selling point?

We were briefed to find the solution. In Tanzania, 49% of the population live below the extreme poverty line and it’s estimated that it costs around 7% of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) to run a household fridge for a year — so we knew small business owners were under pressure. Simply asking them to turn their fridges on was not an option, and neither was warm beer.

We saw how resourceful and innovative tavern owners can be with their marketing. This inspired us to find a similarly creative solution to help their businesses

After first mulling over traditional communication campaign ideas, we realised that we needed to create something that would appeal to tavern owners. Something to show them that the cost of keeping their fridges running was a worthy investment for their business. And we coupled this with a consumer-facing element.