18th Gong Gong Awards: Pulse Marketing Ghana bags Silver in Design & Craft

• Pulse Marketing Ghana won a Silver Plaque at the 18th Gong Gong Awards for Guinness’ Drink IQ campaign.

• The Ghana-localised campaign, “Control Be Sense – The Magic of Moderation”, promoted responsible drinking through the “Sip, Savour, Stop” message.

• Pulse was also shortlisted in the Gong Gong for Good category for its PROUDmoments campaign with SanlamAllianz Ghana.

Pulse Marketing Ghana has won a Silver Plaque in the Design & Craft category at the 18th Gong Gong Awards for its work on Guinness Ghana’s “Drink IQ” campaign.

The award recognises the agency’s creative strategy and execution in transforming responsible drinking into a more engaging and aspirational message for consumers.

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Held on Saturday, August 22, at the Labadi Beach Hotel under the theme “The Creative Convergence: Human Craft and AI in Advertising”, the 18th Gong Gong Awards brought together advertising agencies, brands, marketers, creatives, media professionals, production partners and other industry stakeholders.

Pulse Ghana emerged as the highest winner in the Design Craft category with its work on “Drink IQ”.

The agency was also shortlisted in the Gong Gong for Good category for its work with SanlamAllianz Ghana on the PROUDmoments campaign, which recognises campaigns designed to create meaningful and positive community impact.

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The Guinness Ghana campaign was developed as a local adaptation of the global Drink IQ initiative and branded “Control Be Sense – The Magic of Moderation”.

Pulse Marketing Ghana noted the campaign was created against the backdrop of increasing regulations around youth alcohol consumption, with the objective of presenting responsible drinking in a way that connected with its target audience.

“Faced with increasing regulations around youth alcohol consumption, Pulse Marketing partnered with Guinness Ghana to localise its global Drink IQ initiative into ‘Control Be Sense – The Magic of Moderation’,” the agency said.

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Rather than relying on conventional clinical or scare-based messaging, the campaign used influencers, vibrant graphics and motion design to position moderation as a sign of confidence, social intelligence and self-control.

The campaign was built around the three-step message: “Sip, Savour, Stop.”

Pulse Marketing Ghana developed a distinctive visual language to make moderation feel as sophisticated as “drinking well”.

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“To make moderation look as sophisticated as ‘drinking well,’ we bypassed clinical, scare-tactic PSAs in favour of vibrant graphics, dynamic motion design, and a simple 3-step actionable rhythm: The 3Ss – Sip, Savour, Stop,” the agency said.

The “Sip” concept used focused typography and delicate hand-and-glass line art to highlight pacing. “Savour” incorporated effervescent bubble textures and bold presentation to celebrate flavour, while “Stop” used dynamic colour blocking to portray staying in control as effortless and smart.

Guinness Ghana has positioned “Control Be Sense” as part of its broader commitment to positive drinking and its Spirit of Progress agenda, with the campaign encouraging consumers to “drink better, not more”.

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For Pulse Marketing Ghana, the recognition capped an evening of industry celebration and reinforced the agency’s position in Ghana’s competitive creative advertising space.

The agency described the achievement as a “#PROUDmoment”, thanking Guinness Ghana for trusting its creative vision and its team for pushing creative boundaries.