Brixton’s “grit and glitter” are the central feature of a new mass advertising campaign launched today (22 May) by Brixton Brewery, which is celebrating a 124% growth in distribution points over the last year, confirming it as a top 5 UK craft beer brand.
The campaign, created by the Otherway London agency, pays homage to the “wish you were here” nostalgia of pre-digital era tourist postcards.
Rather than beaches and piers, the new ads feature the “charming chaos of urban life”, says Brixton Brewery – from pavement pigeons to abandoned supermarket trolleys and market stall butchers.
Captions include “An all-inclusive holiday for your mouth” and “The glittering jewel of South London”.
The campaign features bold outdoor posters, online travel films, digital banners and a targeted London Underground campaign where travellers will see the brewery take “good-natured aim” at other parts of London with captions like “Life’s way too short for Oxford Circus” and “Seriously, who gets off at Warren Street?” inviting people to continue their Victoria Line journey South and “Get a Taste of Brixton”.
“We’re bringing that special Brixton mix of what we call the grit and the glitter to this campaign,” said brewery co-founder and managing director, Jez Galaun.
“There’s so much buzz and joy in bringing diverse groups together, as you see in Brixton, and we always want to give people a flavour of that, wherever they are or wherever they’re from.
“We want to celebrate all the things that we love about where we are, not just the typical shiny tourist-friendly bits.
“What makes Brixton so special is the way everything and everyone comes together to create something greater than the sum of all those diverse parts.
“With all due respect to Oxford Circus, you’ll never regret staying on the Victoria Line until you get to Brixton.”
The campaign builds on the success of last year’s Electric Collective Initiative, which saw the brewery working with local creatives to pay tribute to Brixton.
This year the brewery has partnered with Brixton-based photographer Freddie Payne to capture a series of street shots, as well as commissioning local musicians Ayo Salawu and Renato Paris of Straight Pocket fame, to create an original track, Coldharbour Lane, inspired by the local area.
Launched in 2013, Brixton Brewery puts local places and designs at the front and centre of its beer names and packaging.
It has worked with Otherway since 2022, “with a single-minded mission to bring a taste of Brixton to beer-lovers across the UK”.
Started by two local couples, the brewery – which is now owned by Heineken, following a relationship that enabled its expansion – has been brewing in South London since its foundation and still has a taproom in the centre of Brixton.
