The Background
Ireland’s non-alcoholic beer market is growing and becoming increasingly competitive, dominated by international brands benefiting from scale and parent brand halo effects.
TV was selected not just for reach, but for its ability to signal quality, confidence and legitimacy in a category where perception matters more than taste. The plan focused on maximising unique household reach, and minimising wastage.
Research shows resistance to non-alcoholic beer is driven less by taste and more by image — and is often seen as a compromise rather than a confident choice. Fierce Mild needed to challenge this perception without the ability to compete on spend.
Fierce Mild is a small, independent Irish brand brewed in Co. Louth, this was the brand’s first ever TV campaign, meaning efficiency and effectiveness were critical.
The objectives were to:
• Build awareness of Fierce Mild as a credible, premium non-alcoholic beer
• Reframe non-alcoholic beer from “fallback” to “choice”
• Drive consideration and online sales
• Prove that TV could deliver impact for a niche brand on a limited budget
This campaign was shortlisted for Best Tactical Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards
The Challenge
The strategic challenge was to unlock the power of TV without relying on scale or repetition. The solution lay in tactical planning choices that maximised the perceived value of each exposure, ensuring that a first-time TV advertiser could achieve impact, credibility and memorability within a constrained budget. TAM Ireland’s research “Signalling: Media’s XFactor” highlights that TV advertising inherently signals quality, confidence and success. For Fierce Mild, TV was not just a media channel but a strategic asset — a way to elevate brand perception instantly in a category dominated by well-established global brands. This signalling effect was amplified through distinctive creative. The campaign featured a bold animated execution built around the brand’s mascot, Fierce Brosnan — a playful nod to Pierce Brosnan. In contrast to the familiar, polished tropes of alcohol-free beer advertising, Fierce Brosnan embodied difference, individuality and front facing confidence. The animation style immediately stood apart from the mundane and expected, ensuring the ad grabbed attention in premium TV environments.
The creative idea was anchored by the line “Brew Things Differently”, reinforcing Fierce Mild’s challenger mindset and positioning non-alcoholic beer not as a compromise, but as a positive, intentional choice. This distinctive character led approach meant the campaign did not need high frequency to build impact; memorability was driven by originality and relevance.
The campaign embraced a TV first but precision led approach, combining:
- AdSmart linear TV to target high value households
- VOD delivery to extend reach among younger, lighter TV viewers
- Selective live sports placements to borrow attention and cultural relevance
- Rather than chasing frequency, the plan prioritised efficient reach in premium environments, allowing the creative’s nuance, humour and tone to land properly. The defining tactical decision was prioritising efficient household level reach over frequency, allowing a first-time TV advertiser to achieve credibility, attention and impact without waste.
Timing was also a tactical choice. November offered high engagement viewing, premium drama launches and major sports moments, while avoiding the restrictive “Sober October” narrative. This positioned Fierce Mild as a brand that chooses to do things differently — aligning the media context, creative execution and brand values into a single, coherent TV strategy.
The Strategy
The campaign ran from 3 November to 14 December 2025, using a single 30‑second TV creative. Given Fierce Mild’s limited budget and first‑time use of TV, the plan was designed to maximise efficient reach, attention quality and memorability, rather than frequency or scale. At the heart of the plan was a One Campaign approach, combining AdSmart linear TV with Video on Demand (VOD). This ensured consistent audience targeting across platforms while allowing each channel to play a clearly defined tactical role.
AdSmart linear TV formed the backbone of the plan. Using addressable technology, the campaign targeted carefully defined households that aligned with Fierce Mild’s core audience profile: tech forward, higher income homes, often with teenage or young adult children who influence household purchasing and are more likely to be ‘sobercurious’. By serving the ad only to relevant households, AdSmart significantly reduced wastage and allowed TV investment to work harder at a household level.
The linear plan prioritised high attention, appointment-to-view environments. Programming choices included premium Sky Atlantic drama, lifestyle and food content, and selected Sky Sports environments. These contexts were chosen deliberately to complement the brand’s positioning and to allow the distinctive animated creative and character of Fierce Brosnan to stand out. Rather than spreading budget thinly across multiple channels or dayparts, weight was concentrated where attention and engagement were highest. Video on Demand played a critical incremental role. VOD extended reach among younger, lighter TV viewers and cord‑cutting audiences who may not have been exposed to the linear campaign. Importantly, VOD delivery ensured incremental reach rather than duplication, allowing the campaign to build scale efficiently without increasing frequency. Strong engagement metrics confirmed that viewers actively chose to watch and interact with the content in these environments.
To further amplify impact, the plan included a small number of selective live Premier League placements. These were not used for scale, but for cultural relevance and impact — borrowing attention from live sport moments to reinforce brand credibility and memorability.
Throughout the campaign, the guiding principle was reach efficiency over repetition. Frequency was carefully managed to avoid waste, ensuring that each exposure delivered maximum value. This disciplined planning approach allowed a first-time TV advertiser to achieve levels of reach, engagement and effectiveness typically associated with much larger budgets. This was not a broad, always on TV presence. It was a precisely planned TV intervention, where every channel, placement and impression had a defined purpose in delivering efficient, impactful results.
The Results
For a first-time TV advertiser with a smaller budget, the results were exceptional. With no other significant paid media activity running during this period, the uplift in brand and commercial metrics can be confidently attributed to the TV campaign.
Media Delivery
- 64.6% reach within a defined universe of 207,852 households
- Incremental 4.6% reach driven by VOD
- 3.8% VOD clickthrough rate, indicating active engagement
The campaign scored really well across top of funnel metrics .
- Significant uplift in prompted ad recall (+3.4 ppts)
- +14.9ppt increase in aided ad recall
- Significant uplift in prompted awareness (+7.4 ppts)
- Strong gains in brand perceptions, particularly alignment with modern Irish lifestyles
- Significant increase in prompted consideration (+2.8% ppts)
Sales
- +216% increase in website traffic month-on-month
- +341% increase year-on-year in November
- +34% uplift in online orders year-on-year
This tactical TV campaign was focused on a clear commercial objective, delivering short-term commercial impact with potential for longer-term brand momentum, proving the value of tactical TV investment for challenger brands. For a first time ever TV advertiser with a modest budget, the campaign results were nothing short of incredible – delivering efficient reach, strong engagement and significant brand impact..
“Fierce Mild worked closely with Sky Media throughout planning and execution. As a first-time TV advertiser, collaboration was critical in shaping the audience strategy, timing, and channel mix. The client was actively involved in performance review and outcome analysis, ensuring learning was captured for future activity.
“We believed that TV advertising was beyond our reach, but AdSmart made it possible. We are delighted with the results of our first ever TV campaign. Not only did we see a significant uplift in online traffic and sales, both Dunnes and Tesco listed our product when they learned of our planned TV activity.”
Fergal Carroll, Fierce Mild
Credits
Brand:
Fierce Mild
Supporting agencies/teams:
Sky Media
Award:
TAMI Awards Shortlist Best Tactical Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards