One of the first campaigns we created helped launch 1892 Traditional Ale for Quidi Vidi Brewery — Newfoundland’s first craft brewery.

But getting a craft beer established in Newfoundland was no easy task.

Labatt and Molson had the market firmly in their grip, with generations of beer drinkers loyal to brands they already knew.

Quidi Vidi had something different: a traditionally crafted ale inspired by a recipe that had survived the 1892 Great Fire of St. John’s.

So how do you make something new feel instantly familiar by connecting it to a history and heritage Newfoundlanders hold dear?

While working with an enlargement of the beer label’s fantastic pre-fire photograph, I noticed something.

None of the men were looking at the camera.

They were all looking toward the foreground of the pier.

I thought:

‘That’s where the modern bottle belongs.’

And suddenly, the idea was there.

I placed a bottle of 1892 Traditional Ale into the historic scene and built the campaign around a simple invitation:

TASTE THE PAST

The unexpected blend of history and modern imagery created a visual that was impossible to ignore.

The campaign appeared in bars and stores throughout Newfoundland and helped establish Quidi Vidi as a distinctive new presence in a market dominated by much larger, entrenched brands — decades before other craft breweries began springing up across the island.