Bacardi: SHAGGY 42BELOW

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Integrated Campaign Led by PR

Advertiser: BACARDI LION

Product/Service: BRAND IMAGE

Managing Director: Kat Thomas (One Green Bean)

Senior Account Director: Lauren Bailey (One Green Bean)

Account Director: Katie Graham (One Green Bean)

Social Media Manager: Mathieu Abet (One Green Bean)

Senior Account Executive: Julia Webb (One Green Bean)

Media placement: Social Media - Teaser Video, Launch Of Facebook Page, Set Up Foursquare And Twitter - 1st October 2010

Media placement: Announcemnent Press Release - Exclusive With Daily Telegraph - 5th October 2010

Media placement: Broad Distribution Of Announcement Release - Online Influnces Inc. Oyster, Two Thousand, Buck Blog - 6th October 2010

Media placement: Photo Call With Shaggy To Kick Off Treasure Hunt - AAP, Daily Telegraph, Ninemsn, Getty Images - 12th October 2010

Media placement: On Premise Shaggy Appearances For Treasure Hunt - MX, Sun Herald, Time Out Sydney - 12th October 2010

Media placement: Shaggy's 42nd Birthday Party - Sunday Telegraph, Pages Digital, Pedestrian, Daily Telegraph, SMH.com.au - 14th October 2010

Media placement: Shaggy 42 'Hurricane Shaggy' Cocktail Press Release - Bar Zine, Time Out Sydney, She Said, Nine To Five - 1st December 2010



Summary of the Campaign

42Below asked us to implement a fun, quirky campaign to get the cool kids talking about and drinking 42Below in Sydney.

The only mandatory was to stay true to the brand’s humorous and ironic personality.



We needed to engage digital natives with an insatiable appetite for consuming and sharing content and a love of pop culture. We knew that if we created an initiative with a high level of social currency, the audience would not only engage with it, but feel compelled to motivate others to do so too.



So we decided to bring Shaggy to Australia to celebrate his 42nd birthday by throwing him a party at the hippest joint in town.

The catch? Consumers could only get their hands on tickets if they tracked him down via a social treasure hunt. Why? Because we knew this approach would make getting a pair of tickets to the party the talk of the town. And we were right.



The two-week campaign reached over 13.1 million people across traditional and social media channels. Brand health insights revealed the campaign halted the decline in brand awareness and the initiative delivered the highest ever brand conversion to trial in Sydney.



The Situation

42Below is the world’s most awarded vodka brand, but being a boutique and niche brand from New Zealand, there is extremely low consumer awareness when compared to its competitors. During its early years, the brand executed several quirky viral campaigns, establishing irony, humour and 'the unexpected' as core brand intrinsics. Now part of the Bacardi portfolio, there is a renewed focus on engaging the consumer and educating them about 42Below’s unique product and proposition.



The Goal

42Below challenged us to develop and implement a fun, quirky campaign that would:



- Raise awareness of 42Below amongst the core audience

- Spark word of mouth

- Facilitate trial

- Stay true to 42Below’s ironic, humorous DNA



We were asked to focus on targeting a youth audience; independently minded opinion formers who aren’t afraid to stand apart from the crowd. Analysis of segmentation data demonstrated their extremely high usage of both established and emerging social network platforms.

We revisited 42Below’s brand communications archive to ensure we continued to evolve the brand’s distinct personality and use of humour and irony.



The Strategy

One key insight shaped our thinking; we were looking to engage opinion formers and key influencers.

These individuals have an insatiable appetite for consuming and sharing content and a love of pop culture. We knew that if we created an initiative with a sufficiently high level of social currency, they would not only engage with it, but feel compelled to motivate others to do so too.



Our idea:

Shaggy is from Jamaica and was about to turn 42. 42Below is a vodka from New Zealand (down under). So we threw him a birthday bash in Sydney at the hippest joint in town. Everyone was invited but they could only get their hands on tickets if they tracked down Shaggy on the streets of Sydney by following tips and clues released via social media. Why? Because we knew this approach would make the party the talk of the town. And we were right.



Execution

Activity was split into two phases:



1. Shaggy pre-buzz

A week before his arrival a teaser video announcing Shaggy’s visit and detailing the mechanics of the campaign was seeded to media and bloggers. News of his visit was also leaked to targeted youth culture media outlets followed by mass media.

Consumers were encouraged to friend 42Below on Facebook, follow Shaggy on Twitter or friend him on Foursquare.



2. Shaggy in market

A press conference with Shaggy launched the initiative, following which Shaggy undertook an intensive interview schedule to promote the ticket treasure hunt.

Over 4 days Shaggy visited five bars and the first 15 consumers to find him via clues dropped via social media channels scored tickets.

The week culminated in Shaggy’s birthday bash at GOODGOD Small Club, Sydney’s hippest underground club, where he performed and partied with a select crowd of media, ticket winners and youth skewed opinion formers.



Documented Results

The two-week campaign resulted in a reach in excess of 13.1 million. 100% of coverage referenced 42Below and 95% of coverage delivered the call to action to consumers explaining the treasure hunt mechanic.

Over 10,000 people viewed the teaser video seeded with niche popular culture bloggers and media outlets.



The initiative was used to launch 42Below’s Australian Facebook page and with no media support, recruited over 1000 fans and over 5,000 unique visitors to the page.



Following the activation, brand health insights revealed the campaign halted the decline in brand awareness, achieving 38% in the month of activation, up from 26%. Overall, the initiative delivered the highest ever brand conversion to trial at 21% in Sydney. With this initiative the only activity in market, this campaign is wholly responsible for the improved commercial position and shift in consumer attitudes.