Let's face it: "Malternatives" aren't exactly a hot category. With consumers interested in either trading down to cheaper brands or experimenting with craft brews, Mike's Hard Lemonade knew what it was up against heading into the summer of 2009. Its category was down 7% compared to the year prior, but rather than call it quits and take a vacation, it decided to own the summer's vacation weekends.
Mike's decided to become "The Unofficial Sponsor of the 3-Day Weekend." To do so, it leveraged traditional media, in-store displays, a sweepstakes and a slew of fun, branded premiums. To target its primary audience (men ages 21 to 34) and secondary audience (men ages 35-plus and married couples in the suburbs), it offered retailers an array of "Twist. Pour. Viva!" display opportunities.
The brand pushed hard during Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends to prompt consumers to look under their caps for the chance to win "3-day weekend essentials." Retailers were offered their choice of "spectaculars" to promote the contest's big prizes, which included a truck, mega-grill, ATVs and cash. Other items included branded jackets and snowboards.
"We knew that they were at a point in the brand's life where it had become a bit lost," says Scott Schoessel, CEO of the Gigunda Group, which created the effort. "Our strategy to correct the course was to create something that got consumers back involved in the brand while driving its relevancy. What better way to show relevancy than to create branded program premiums that prove to the consumer that we get them?"
The results: Same-store sales were up 22% on average each month from June to September. Schoessel says, "Not only were they relevant, which helped the brand up the engagement level, but they were brand confidence builders, communicating to consumers that we understand them and what's important to them."
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