Updated Research Shapes Mike's Campaign

Chicago — For Mike's Hard Lemonade, the catalyst to its rebranding research was not weak sales. Despite double-digit growth and increasing market share, Mike's felt the brand had lost a bit of its reverence over the years.In an effort to build on its popularity and reinforce its unique place in the alcoholic beverage aisle, the Chicago-based company turned to brand insight and marketing strategy company Kelton Research, New York and Los Angeles.Mike's has been working with Kelton since an original brand study was executed prior to the product's launch more than a decade ago. "So we tapped them for an updated study," says Andy Horrow, chief marketing officer at Mike's. "Through an extensive six-month study, which included a series of online communities, ethnographies, in situ parties, co-creation sessions, workshops and more, we explored the consumers' passion for the brand."What came through glaringly is that Mike's is more than a beverage; it's a mindset. It's all about defying convention when life needs a bit more flavor. We learned that the Mike's drinker wants flavor, variety, something different."That provided the foundation for a "Do Summer Different" multi-platform marketing campaign that launched in May and runs through August, featuring 16 weeks of social media, mobile and video activity. The campaign is Mike's largest marketing spend over the longest time frame of any previous campaign.The campaign is designed to reach Mike's core customer – men of legal drinking age, 21-34 – and celebrates Mike's "differentness" in a way that's unexpected, says Horrow.TV spots by Grey New York are airing on guy-targeted cable networks such as Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, F/X, Speed and Spike. The spots show Mike's target consumer engaged in expected male activities like golf and fishing, but they feature unexpected twists – for instance, a golfer takes his ball out of the hole and a spontaneous lottery drawing ensues. All the spots end with the tagline: "Mike's Hard Lemonade: Always Different, Always Refreshing."Mike's also presented a series of digital engagement initiatives that include video, mobile and social media that enable consumers to choose how the promotion plays out. The first execution (of nine total) is the invention of Cuatro de Mayo, a holiday sponsored by Mike's "Classic Margarita" beverage. Mike's asked Facebook fans to submit song recommendations to an "unclassic Mariachi band" online and watch them play the song of their choice live on May 4, the fictional holiday.Mike's also partnered with Washington-based social buying site LivingSocial in key markets, a first for the alcoholic beverage category, according to the company. Mike's sponsored LivingSocial's "21+ Memorial Day Weekend Summer Camp" in New York; "Labor Day Weekend Adventures Summer Camp" in Washington and New York; and one-day "Adventures" in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago.TPN Chicago and TPN Dallas managed retail execution, promotional activity and point-of-sale materials for the campaign. For retailers, Mike's hoped to re-energize the adult beverage aisle to grow the category and brand."There's also increased focus on Mike's can business, which allows us to increase our presence in grocery and convenience stores," says Horrow. "We are seeing a huge movement to cans. They used to be seen as low budget, but now you are seeing high-end craft beers in cans. The taboo is gone. From boating to golf, the can goes where bottles can't."There's new packaging for 12-packs too. It's sleeker and more streamlined; more masculine with bold lettering and additional black, to appeal to men of legal drinking age, says Horrow. A text-to-win sweepstakes at POS closes the loop between in-store and the digital promotions. In-store couponing rounds out the program.Mike's will measure the campaign's success through product sales, website and social media traffic, and promotion and contest participation. Early results show nearly 100,000 requests for Mike's Mariachi band to sing and nearly 400,000 "Likes" on Facebook.Grey New York managed the campaign's advertising and digital activity; Horizon LA handled media buying.

Updated Research Shapes Mike's Campaign

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