Longero, officially called the Hartwall Original Long Drink, has been a hit product in recent summers. When the new importer started working with the NOH Production digital agency this spring, the situation was not great. The brand’s social media accounts had to be rebuilt from scratch after the change of importer. Anyone who has done this recently knows well how little interest people have in seeing brands in their feed.

As a result of a digital audit, we found so-called longero friendship groups, where people shared moments spent with the brand in small chats. That is where we got the idea of building a meaningful connection with fans instead of the usual digital visibility, and creating a permanent and passionate longero community.

Here are our three light blue recommendations on how to do it!

Social media is a hotbed for community life – be our Smurf!

The brand manual of the head office regulated the use of the blue and white stripes on about 50 pages, but we quickly realised that just posting is not enough to build social media accounts. Instagram broadcast channels are gaining more popularity, so we wanted to get in on it for the brand. This is the tool of choice for many influencers, but few brands as of yet. We invited longero fans or ‘Smurfs’ to join the new community.

However, due to the account being new, such a function was not available to Hartwall. As the CTA was live, we had to find a way out – we created a private DM group that fans could join. The result was a more personal and exclusive community, rather than a regular broadcast channel. The first people joined in a few minutes, and the community started to function on its own.

Although we had an action plan for the ‘upkeep’ of the group, the community started to generate topics of its own – writing about places where the longero is not sold and praising those where the selection is good. They shared DIY longero merch and their summer longero moments. The community’s posts are now also seen as a seedbed for new ideas. The result is not another stream of brand content in the feed, but rather a shared lifestyle.

Events as activators

The ‘Longeropong’ taking place at the Patarei Sea Fortress in Tallinn is a good example of a series of events that have successfully brought fans together, created the right atmosphere, and cultivated a community. There is a big difference between giving chairs and bar stools to an event organiser at the beginning of the summer and being there yourself – sharing merch, interacting with fans, and inviting them to join in. Events created according to the brand’s values and the wishes of the community are key. 

Tape cars and make good merch!

In addition to events, we organised various promotional events throughout the summer, the clues of which were spread within the community and social media in general. The most notable of these is the longero treasure hunt. By following clues on social media, fans could find a longero car (yes, they had to tape it!) and win merch. Therefore, we have an important recommendation – if you are going to make merch, make it right! It must be relevant to the community, not just another tote bag or umbrella.

Longero story short…

It is not possible to achieve a great result with using just one channel or basic solution. Creating an authentic and dedicated community is labour-intensive, but if energy is directed to the right place, results will follow. Although the consumption of this fizzy drink does not reach the heights of beer, initial sales figures showed that beer retailers were definitely feeling the light-blue pressure this summer.

Rage Riismann, Brand Manager for the Hartwall Original Long Drink comments that in spring, NOH Production helped to build Hartwall’s social media from scratch at a critical moment.

“At the beginning of the year, our social media channels had to be built up from scratch – it was quite a challenge, but at the same time an opportunity to do things freshly and purposefully,” she says. “Currently, we are number one in our category in terms of sales volume, although the competition is tough. Behind our success are consistency and monthly collaboration, where a data-driven approach and creative solutions go hand in hand.

Building the Longero community has been a fun and engaging process. It has shown how much can be achieved when there is a trusting and mutual cooperation between the brand and the agency. That is how ideas that really work are born.”

Written by: Mervi Pirhonen, NOH Production

Kõik uudised