CHEERS TO 50 YEARS, THE RAISE YOUR GLASS CAMPAIGN
May, 2023
By CARINE ATANGANA
Media & Digital Manager, UCB
A 50th anniversary is always a watershed moment in the course of the existence of any living organism that is prone to live beyond those years. In the business environment, it is no less so, as it is a strong statement that says a company has surpassed some of its most trying moments as a business entity – a gigantic obstacle course that starts from the first cries of inception to its baptism through fire and water, where its vision and its relationship with its market has been tried, tested and has been resilient.
UCB, like the living organism that it is, is at that watershed moment. It lives and breathes and grows and thrives through the many components, internal and external, that gives it its organic genetic makeup – the people that work here, the suppliers we rely on, the beloved and faithful customers, the public, the government, the partner institutions, as well as our codes of conduct, beliefs, values, and principles. In the spirit of celebration, growth, resilience, and the thriving nature of this organism at 50, the Raise Your Glass campaign was launched.
The ‘Raise Your Glass’ concept was specifically created as a pat-on-the-back moment, not just for UCB and its employees, but also for the other aforementioned components that make up its being – as we all celebrate the journey we have embarked on this last 50 years. It is important to celebrate and leverage UCB’s 50 years of strength, growth, impact, and success to inspire Cameroon and Cameroonians to step up and reach for their personal and collective greatness. This was the key objective of the campaign as we wanted to go beyond the top layer and into the depth of our collective Cameroonian-ness and bring out aspects of national pride and our heritage as a Cameroonian business (the only one to celebrate a Jubiliee in our line of business) while toasting collectively.
And so the Raise Your Glass campaign was aimed at creating mass awareness of UCB’s achievements over the past 50 years, teasing consumers and building up anticipation for the many events around this celebration and creating never-seen-before entertaining events with potential for ‘virality’ on social media. In addition, it allowed us to boost the curiosity and awareness of consumers for our new products, and finally, turn the consumers into active communicators of our brand via two central, digital consumer touch points - #UCB@50 and #RaiseYourGlass
One of the key ways we wanted to communicate as a company and on the ensuing success around it was to tell the story of UCB, pushing through the vision, passion, and determination that has guided the company to its current stature. We brought this to life through our various channels and multimedia.
Via interviews with executives, employees, customers, consumers, and stakeholders, we told the story of UCB from its beginning, taking the viewer on a journey that springs from the founder’s vision, reiterates the values of the company and the spirit that drives the company to this day, shows the milestones and hurdles that the company has had to walk on and hop across over these last 50 years, and show how millions of lives have been touched by UCB and its brand.
We aimed to make Cameroonians discover the company behind the products they love, as well as the people and the guiding spirit behind it. The advertisement campaign was run on TV, outdoors, radio, newspapers, and social media. The entirety of the campaign was across the different communication channels, which featured prominent Cameroonians and UCB ambassadors; like Moustik Karismatik, Salatiel, Kang Quintus, Witty Minstrel, and Djaili Amadou Amal. This campaign was well-received, and the conversation on social media about the TV commercial was favorable.
Raise Your Glass was a moment for us to share a toast with the life and the blood of this company – our employees. Through this campaign, UCB sought to reaffirm its commitments to its employees by renewing its promise to them. We wanted to drive up employee engagement and motivation, improve UCB’s work environment and culture, make the two-way relationship and trust even stronger and walk steadily towards our firm desire to make UCB a place where everyone is happy and proud to work.
UCB is proud to celebrate those who have given it years of service, thos who believe in the vision and successfully drive change at UCB daily.
And so, this anniversary was an opportunity for us to raise our glasses to our employees by celebrating them in a tangible manner. This happened with our Employee Recognition Day on October 20th, 2022. At the company grounds, we held an award ceremony where medals were conferred on our most deserving employees. We also awarded prizes to recipient employees in the form of cash prizes, household electronics, laptops, hotels and spa vouchers as well as parcels of land of 300 square meters in Douala.
Raise Your Glass was also an opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to society. This year, once again the Quality Back To School (QBTS) program was not only done, but taken to a bigger dimension befitting of the celebration around UCB’s 50th anniversary. Other axes of our responsibility towards society have come under assessment and have seen a new strategic orientation for their attainment. As such, some of our initiatives for social impact like the creation of boreholes to serve communities in need all over the country have received renewed attention and interest.
To close the festivities, we organized a mega concert at the Reunification Stadium in Bepanda, Douala on December 22nd. The culmination of the Raise Your Glass campaign and the opportunity for UCB to be in direct communion with her employees, her customers, and the most treasured consumers and the public.
Raise Your Glass was, (is) a celebration of the vision, heritage, willingness, resilience, and perseverance of the Cameroonian spirit. It transcends brand and company as it celebrates the success of one of Africa’s most renowned breweries, its’ powerhouse of iconic brands, and the many people that believe in and participate in its success.