DRAMA, FUN IN A TUNNEL MADE OF CRATES

Suspense, spectacles mark the re-launch of Gulder bottle in Lagos.

Past winners of the Gulder Ultimate Search returned to the red carpet in Lagos last Saturday when the popular brand unveiled a new identity.

It was a kind of reunion with viewers and their admirers when Ezego Egwuagwu (GUS 1 winner), Lucan Chambliss (GUS 2 winner), Hector Joberteh (GUS 3 winner), Dominic Mudabai (GUS 4 winner), Michael Nwachukwu (GUS 5 winner), Uche Nwaezeapu (GUS 6 winner), Oyekunle Oluwaremi (GUS 7 winner), Christopher Okagbue (GUS 8 winner), Paschal Eronmose (GUS 9 winner) and Dennis Okike (GUS 10 winner), came under a single roof.

As if to establish the fact that they now belong to what Gulder calls ‘Order of Heroes’, they sipped a glass of honour when they were heralded to the stage by a flower- tongued orchestra.

While the re-launch was marked by musical performances and inspirational talks, people sensitive to creative details were particularly excited by the spectacles that characterised the setting and organisation of the event.

For instance, the event activators practically went wild by creating a roofed tunnel made of 3,500 creates of Gulder, inside which the programmes held. This kind of experiment is usually experienced in the theatre, where producers and directors want to achieve effects that depict believable reality.

Besides, radical visual artists have at times dropped conventional materials like the brush, paint and woods for things that many would never have thought can be transformed into inspiring arts. Indeed, young-generation practitioners are turning that kind of radicalism into an art on its own.

This also seems to be becoming a tradition for Lagos-based Oracle Experience, the event activation company behind the Gulder show. In one of its earlier packages for Nigeria Breweries, for instance, Oracle, which hasFelix Eiremiokhae as its chief executive officer, had created a novel ship inside which artistes and guests held a party for the NB’s Show Time.

On the idea behind the concept of the Gulder re-launch held at Ocean View Restaurant, Victoria Island, Eiremiokhae said activating events for proactive organisations had become more of an art and science.

He said, “ We have passed the era of experience for experience’s sake but that of memorable experience. We have passed the stage where we say experience is about experience to the stage where experience is no longer enough. Experience without memory is equal to zero. For a very long time to come you cannot forget those crates as part of things you experienced at the programme. We encourage clients to use what they have to create memorable events.”

The show that also featured exotic Tanooura dance was the culmination of several weeks of a suspense-filled campaign tagged ‘The Cube is Coming’, which had many people guessing what the Gulder brand was up to.

In his welcome address, the Managing Director, Nigeria Breweries, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, said the re-launch was in tandem with the company’s penchant for innovation, which has sustained the company’s leadership in the brewery sector.

He said, “In 1946, the story of innovation started with Nigerian Breweries Plc. We launched the Gulder brand in 1970 in a unique brown bottle with a unique logo and unique recipe. This unique beer is loved by millions of Nigerians who savour the taste every day, every week, every month and every year. Gulder was the first beer to be launched in cans, which is a further sign of its innovativeness.”

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.