Drogba Joins Windhoek Lager Africa Campaign

Premium beer brand Windhoek Lager has announced the launch of a new Pan-African advertising campaign featuring football legend Didier Drogba. The campaign celebrates the story of a beer from Africa that has grown to be celebrated world-wide, and draws comparison to a man who has followed a similar journey.

‘Windhoek Lager is a true African success story,’ explained Jacqueline Pack, Senior Brand Manager – Windhoek, at Namibia Breweries. ‘We’ve chosen to keep brewing to the original recipe and method according to the purity law, despite there being easier and cheaper ways to brew beer. It means that we can deliver exceptional quality, taste and purity, which results in a premium and world class product that wins gold medals internationally.’

The advertising campaign was developed when the brand team looked for ways to bring the story of the beer from Africa to life. They looked for a world class African hero that they could partner with as an ambassador for the brand, and researched what values and criteria should be considered.

According to the brand’s press release, the results that were fed back to them from Windhoek Lager consumers suggested that to be a world class African hero one needed to be humble and authentic. But more important than their career achievements, was the way that they conducted themselves and their involvement and commitment to their home country, along with their reinvestment to their community, despite being successful on world stage. The search led the brand to Didier Drogba.

‘Drogba shares the same values and conviction that we do. Not only is he a proudly world class African, but he has also kept it real, prioritising the important things in life above triviality and the temptation to do it easier. His authenticity and strength make him a man that Windhoek is proud to be associated with,’ continued Pack.

‘Through the partnership with him, and the telling of his story, our aim is to encourage Namibians to taste Africa’s World Class Beer and to show that nothing comes easy – it takes determination and hard work to achieve great things.’

The partnership will see Drogba appearing in a TV commercial, as well as posters, billboards, and other advertising collateral for the brand. Plans are also being developed to bring him to Namibia to meet Windhoek Lager fans. 

Commenting on the campaign, Didier Drogba said: ‘It’s great to see an African beer become so popular in so many different countries. I’m looking forward to visiting the Namibian shores soon to see the home of Windhoek lager.’

The campaign will launch with a TV commercial which will air in Namibia on 19th December 2013 on Namibia Broadcasting Cooperation and One Africa. The commercial is entitled “The Journey” and will show Drogba bringing to life the journey of Windhoek Lager being recognised as a world class African and the hard choices that were made to achieve this goal. This will be supported by a robust communications campaign across other media channels, including digital, which will continue through 2014.