The most interesting ad in the world

As I was watching SportsCenter last night I saw the latest iteration of the best ad campaign on television, and it got me thinking. How come the Dos Equis spots stand out in a category that should be filled with great advertising?

If you haven't seen the campaign, here's one of last year's spots. The latest can be seen on their website.

This campaign is not only interesting, but it is also effective. Last year, while the import beer category was down 11% and Corona was down 5%, Dos Equis sales climbed 12.6%. Not a bad performance considering the shambles our economy is in.

So what makes this campaign work when giants like Bud Light and Miller continue to miss the mark even though they have more resources, more money, and more muscle at retail?

While Miller Lite tries to sell a feature like "triple hops brewing" and Bud Light focuses on the functional benefit "drinkability," Dos Equis understands that we don't just drink the beer, we drink the label. What really matters is what we look and feel like when we have that bottle in our hands at a club or with friends watching the game. So Dos Equis sells us something more important, the opportunity to be interesting.

By using an archetypal character, Dos Equis has tapped into a need that exists in all of us. The need to be a hero. And they do it with such a deft hand that it doesn't feel like marketing.

Other brands have used archetypes successfully to help define them: Harley-Davidson is the outlaw, Apple is the creator, Miller High Life saw a resurgence when they tapped into the regular guy. Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson wrote a great book on this subject called The Hero and the Outlaw.

Archetypes can provide an incredible foundation for a brand and when used correctly help differentiate you from the crowd. Thanks to Dos Equis, there's proof.

Stay thirsty, my friends.