Savanna launched the first juniper-flavoured cider in the South African market, challenging category norms.

Nowadays drinking craft spirits and cocktails is all about pageantry, pomp and circumstance. Savanna’s witty, playful and light-hearted take on this gentrified world shows lovers of other juniper infused drinks that you don’t need to drink Savanna Jean from a goblet filled with free-range blueberries at a pretentious artisan market in order to enjoy it.
Directed by the legendary Greg Gray of Romance films, the new ad features a disciple of the gin culture coming to terms with the pitfalls of overly-garnished and ostentatious cocktail, when a flock of birds swoop in on the action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM-WHZhgVak&feature=youtu.be
When it’s clear that he is not quite nailing the air of sophistication and attention he was going for, his Savanna Jean-drinking friends dryly note that he must be having “a bird day”.

“To give us more control over the birds, Greg decided early on that we would add them in post. After his in-depth ornithological studies, the remarkably life-like birds were expertly crafted by Chocolate Tribe in Cape Town,” said Steph van Niekerk. Creative Director at Grey Africa and WPP Liquid, WPP’s bespoke agency solution for Distell.

The Savanna Jean name was consumer-generated in a number of research groups that the brand held before launching this new variant.

Lenford notes: “Savanna Jean was the clear favourite for the name of our new juniper-flavoured cider in all of the research groups. I guess the name itself lands the unpretentiousness and the uncomplicated nature of the product. Here we say Jean. We are really excited for South Africans to try our new Savanna Jean, the country’s first crisp, juniper-flavoured cider.”

This is the second ad in the campaign for Savanna Jean. The launch ad, Survivor, flighted earlier this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89c8-uWUK7c
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