2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

CHALLENGE
Mike’s Hard was a staple of the late 90s and early 2000s – and practically invented the ready to-drink (RTD) category, but at some point, its popularity died down a bit. Then, all of a sudden, vodka-based drinks in a can were cool again and the RTD category was booming, growing by double digits in just a couple of years.

Mike’s saw an opportunity to revive its past success but needed to evolve with the times. Its heyday was a time before social media existed, and now the brand had to engage with a new generation of partygoers.

INSIGHT
The category competition is mostly aimed at women and aims for a sophisticated tone. So, our strategy was to go after dudes and be as immature as possible. While some brands take social media super seriously – FCB knew that Mike’s Hard young male target was more about having fun than having the “perfect” Instagram shot.

The brand decided to stand out during the most serious event happening in the country – the 2019 Canadian Federal Election.

EXECUTION
The agency invented a political party (The Hard Party), and began the search for a Hard Party Prime Minister. Obviously, someone named Mike. (Or at least – that’s what they’d have to pretend their name was. The brand wasn’t exactly going to demand a birth certificate.)

All of the campaigning took place on Instagram. FCB created all the communication a real political party would have, including an oath for the PM to recite when the brand would eventually swore them in.

Once the team selected 12 finalists to run for the PM position, they gave them all the tools they’d need to campaign for themselves, including their own personalized slogan for their personal bio, “Vote Mike” campaign materials – including Instagram-ready stickers and gifs – and a Speech Generator to help them make empty campaign promises and more.

The candidates’ objective was to get the most votes (likes) on the post of their photo on the brand’s page, turning their personal “political” campaigns into campaigns for Mike’s Hard. It was fun for them, and it was an important way to get the word out about Mike’s Hard to a new generation, via the friends they trust. Oh, and the winner got a cut of M.S.T. – also known as the Mike’s Sales Tax – also known as a $5,000 prize.

RESULTS
The campaign was a huge success, and the “candidates” campaigns took on lives of their own – with one Mike creating memes and parody videos that really took off. Voters got as invested in their candidates as we did – and most importantly: everyone had a good time. The campaign had 100% positive social sentiment, 849,196 trackable social impressions, and a ton of earned media that way outpaced paid.

With a budget of only $30,000, for each dollar our campaign spent, Mike’s earned $29. Not a bad return on marketing invested for a brand entering the social space for the first time.

Credits

Creative Agency: FCB Canada
Chief Creative Officers: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Jeff Hilts
Group Creative Directors: Troy McGuinness, Jonathan Careless
Senior Art Director: Naeem Walji
Senior Writers: Jason Soy
EVP, General Manager: Tracy Little
Account Director: Alex Pente
Account Executive: Chris Flynn
Producer: Kristine Lippett
Project Manager: Cori Petit
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Strategy Director: Shelagh Hartford
Production Company: Fuelcontent
Executive Producer: Stef Fabich
Editing House: Fuelcontent
Editors: Vanessa DiStaulo, Jon Garofalo

Client: Mike’s Hard Sparkling Water
VP, Marketing: Todd Allen
Director of Marketing: Mike Bascom
Sr. Brand Manager: Christine Hamilton
Brand Manager: Michelle Skea
Community Manager: Alicia Wakeham

Media Agency: Vizeum
Associate Director: Chris Pallotta
Manager: Taline Erhadt

PR Company: Veritas
Account Manager: Jessie Robertson
Senior Consultant: Madeleine Barker

Social Media Agency: Social Code
Team Lead: Danielle DeGrandis
Associate Account Manager: Madeleine Glouner
Media Operations Manager: Anthony Castellani