Aussie World Champion Stephanie Gilmore Stars In Corona’s Latest Global Surf Campaign

The start of November saw Corona roll out the latest wave of its surf led work in the form of a global campaign starring Australian sports icon and seven-time world surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore.

The creative, which is led by a documentary style short film about Gilmore’s epic surf trip to Fiji’s idyllic Coral Coast, seeks to showcase the importance of reconnecting with nature along with friends and is part of Corona’s wider objective of inspiring people to spend more time outside.

The initiative, developed in harness with Sydney-based agency Monster Children Creative and which will evolve through 2020, continues the beer brand’s long heritage of partnering with surfers and the surf community who champion and illustrate this lifestyle.

As well as Gilmore, the campaign also features a strong team of surf stars including Bridey McNeven (Australia), Mikey February (South Africa), Kaito Ohashi (Japan) and Hawaiian photographer Alana Spencer.

Corona – Closer to Her (45 AUS Version) from Monster Children Films on Vimeo.

While Gilmore narrates the spot, the lead film was directed by surf filmmaker Kai Neville and photographed by Chris Searl.

As well as the hero film, which runs across television and online, the global campaign spans OOH, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

“Corona as brand from the beach has always had a history with surfing and surfers. You don’t have to be a surfer to take inspiration from the lifestyle and the people, especially individuals like Stephanie who are as talented in and as they are out of the water,” said Corona brand director Evan Ellman.

“We believe that her involvement in the campaign will inspire people to do more than just surf, but also reconnect with friends, with nature and with their best selves.”

Gilmore herself added: “Corona is a brand that I really enjoy working with because it shares a lot of my own values around having a positive impact and making a genuine difference. Both this campaign and our work earlier this year to raise awareness of plastic pollution in Bali are examples of that, and I’m excited to continue collaborating with Corona in 2020.”

The campaign was created for the Anheuser-Busch InBev Corona brand team which included VP Global Brands Richard Oppy, Global VP (Corona) Felipe Ambra, Global Marketing Director (Corona) Evan Ellman.

It was created and produced by agency Monster Children Creative where the team included Creative Director Matthew Pike, Account Director Kieran Burke, Digital Director Jam Hassan, Art Director Matthew Pike, Designer Jye Kwong, Director Kai Neville, DOP Campbell Brown, Executive Producer Jam Hassan, Photographer Christopher Searl, Photographer Assistant/Line Producer Oli Black, 1st AC Jani Haekli, 2nd AC/Data Charlie Slesser, Water Cinematographer Andrew Gough, Water Photographer Alana Spencer, Drone Operator Hayden Griffiths, Production Assistant Georgia Creer, Editors Kai Neville, Stewart Arnott and Braden Trotter and Colourist Fergus Rotherham.

Sound post-production was by Sonar Music, with music by Colleen (Geometria Del Universo/Bank Robber Music, with Stills Retoucher Adam Hayes.

Comment:

This campaign seeks to bring to life Corona’s ‘This Is Living’ big idea – which has been running since 2017 – and which states that “ with a vast majority of our lives spent inside, we believe that it’s outside where our best side shines through. Where we live the moments that truly make you stop and think, This is Living”.

The world beneath the waves. #ThisIsLiving pic.twitter.com/IKwZQIbpIB

— Corona (@corona) November 22, 2017

Corona has long been associated with surfing and it became a sponsor of the World Surf League back in 2015 when the brand became the Official Beer of the World Surf League globally (excluding North America) and also the title partner of several invidual WSL events.

The brand’s other surf related tie-ups include a long established alliance with eco, anti-plastic, ocean health charity Parley.

Links:

Corona

https://www.corona.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Corona

https://twitter.com/Corona

https://www.instagram.com/Corona/

https://www.youtube.com/user/coronaextra

https://www.youtube.com/user/CoronaFWYRB

Monster Children Creative

http://monsterchildrencreative.com/

World Surf League