(This is part two of a three-part series on beer companies that are building meaningful connections with their target consumers. – updated with video 12/5/08))

By now I’ve talked about my trip to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival so many times that I’m starting to feel guilty. But I do believe that each case study I share from the trip helps pay my financial and boondoggle debt to Bridge Worldwide, and to you, dear reader. Today I have a beer example that fits perfectly into this three-part series.

Next Up: Speight’s

You probably have never heard of Speight’s beer, even if, like me, you enjoy finding the most random beer brand in the cooler of The Party Source. Speight’s is actually a regional brew from the South… of New Zealand. According to Wikipedia, Speight’s markets itself as “the pride of the south” (who knew that there was a whole north/south thing in NZ, a country of only 4 million people?) and is the favorite beer of students at the University of Otago (which is known for a tradition of “couch burning” – not to be confused with bench burning at Duke University, my alma mater, after a big basketball win – but both happen to occur when large quantities of beer are consumed).

Enough of the trivia. According to marketing legend, the brand learned that fellow Kiwis in the UK missed their Speight’s beer. So in 2007 Speight’s launched “The Great Beer Delivery” – an actual working Speight’s Alehouse was strapped to the deck of a cargo ship. People in New Zealand applied online to accompany the vessel on a 24,000 kilometer trip to Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas, and New York City, before landing in London to thousands of thrilled – and thirsty – brand fans. The trip was covered by PR media in NZ and the UK for weeks as it made its way. It’s a brilliant idea and had brilliant results in terms of meaning and marketing.

I think the meaning here is pretty obvious: The brand connected itself with pride for the nation of New Zealand as it built a bridge between those in the home country and transplants in the UK who missed their mates. This reinforces the idea that beer can be a category that people closely identify with. So efforts to deepen that identification – or connection – are critical to success. A key measure of success is the number of people who chose to engage in the program: According to the brand, “6% of all New Zealand men” (I’m estimating more than 100,000 people) applied online to crew the floating bar.

The marketing results were also pretty impressive. The brand received millions of dollars of free PR for the effort. Speight’s regained its leadership share in the NZ market and drove a “double-digit increase in Brand Adoration… whilst all other mainstream beers declined.” Plus, it drove new distribution and sales in the UK.

The bonus benefit is the pride and fun that this event created for the employees and agency partners of Speight’s. How much more fun is launching a floating bar versus launching a 30-second ad? And, hey, you can even still win a Gold Lion!