Jameson Irish Whiskey leads the category with 70% of the overall Irish Whiskey share, however the whiskey landscape has been evolving with new entrants and new innovations. The challenge was to ensure Jameson stood out and remained the top choice amidst growing competition.
Objectives:
- Return to growth around SPD by encouraging sales.
- Solidify Jameson's cultural relevance to SPD by driving brand engagement through earned media.
- Driving people to the bars to celebrate SPD.
Jameson's targeted audience was the legal drinking age population in the United States, aiming to be the preferred choice for celebrating SPD, an event 150M people celebrate annually. We also wanted to broaden our appeal and foster inclusivity by reaching out to women and multicultural audiences.
When brainstorming about ways to get Americans to celebrate SPD with Jameson, we uncovered:
- 55% of Americans do not use their paid vacation days, and data in 2018 revealed that an astounding 768 million vacation days went unused in the U.S.
- In 2022, 61% of people reported feeling guilty about taking their much-deserved time off.
After two years of canceled (or scaled-back) SPD celebrations and SPD falling on a Friday, Jameson knew they needed to find a way to help consumers go out and celebrate, guilt free.
This presented the perfect opportunity to encourage Americans to use one day of PTO to take St. Patrick’s Day Time off (SPTO) and go celebrate this Irish holiday with the quintessential Irish Whiskey brand.
Jameson needed to encourage consumers to flock to bars and choose Jameson as their celebratory drink this St. Patrick’s Day.
With so much to celebrate - St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday and coincided with the start of March Madness (a big on-premise occasion) - the brand believed that Americans should not feel guilty about taking their hard-earned PTO and had a fun idea up our sleeves to help people take the day off.
St. Patrick’s Day Time off (SPTO) was born and Jameson Desk Decoys were created to “stand in” for people who wanted to take the day off to celebrate the holiday, guilt free.
Regina Hall, the talented American actress-producer, emerged as the ideal representative for Jameson’s St. Patrick’s Day campaign. She lent her humorous voice to amplify the desk decoy concept, helping to connect with the new audiences we aimed to reach. The teambuilt a paid, owned and earned engine behind Regina to promote SPTO and encourage consumers to celebrate with Jameson.
- A humorous voice introduced the narrative & set the tone. A video starring Regina Hall introduced the SPTO campaign and demonstrated how Hall was using her Jameson Desk Decoy as a “stand in” at work in various relatable situations , leading an omni-channel strategy that began with PR and earned stories across lifestyle, food & beverage, entertainment and trade verticals. Reporters were invited to create their own Jameson Desk Decoys to further bring the story to life amongst influential voices.
- The Jameson Desk Decoy was a highly-visual consumer offering that brought SPTO spirit to life. Jameson knows saying you’re taking the day off and actually taking the day off are two different things. Priced at $17.80, a nod to Jameson’s founding year, the quirky, visually-arresting Deck Decoy was a tangible and accessible way for consumers to engage with the brand as they planned for their SPTO. Sales were donated to longtime brand partner, the Restaurant Workers’ Charity Foundation, to support the industry.
- Regina Hall content sustained and scaled the campaign with consistency. A robust paid media plan pushed the SPTO call-to-action anchored by the Desk Decoy with a digital-first media buy to grab consumer attention while they were at work, encouraging them to plan to take the day off on March 17th.
- Dynamic, funny content through partnerships with influencers. 48 pieces of influencer content continued to playfully encourage social communities to take a SPTO.
- Consistent amplification of the SPTO message through a suite of content. A dedicated microsite was created and offered a range of content from out-of-office messages to zoom backgrounds to cocktail recipes.
Call-to-action designed to drive on-premise celebrations on March 17th. As March 17th got closer, Jameson created another wave of buzz by inviting consumers to enter for a chance to win a $10K “SPTO Bonus” just for taking the day off. The catch? The brand would video call the winner on March 17th who had to prove they were celebrating with family and friends in order to win.
Return to Growth:
- 2.7% increase in its St. Patrick’s Day market share (February 15 to March 31 YoY), with the next competitor growing by 0.2%.
- 31% sales lift from pre-campaign versus during the campaign.
- 41% sales lift versus the “2022 St. Patrick’s Days” campaign.
- Review the confidential section for more results regarding return to growth.
Cultural Relevance:
- 1,254 stories across multiple verticals, 6.7B impressions (200x goal) and $61.5MM ad equivalency (through syndication).
- 90% SPTO key message penetration, 78% of coverage included campaign visual assets.
- Organic social content reached 1MM+ fans and 621K total impressions.
- UGC expanded campaign reach by 157% on Instagram, and contributed to 2.3K clicks to JamesonSPTO.com.
- ~1K Desk Decoys sold, with the initial inventory of 400 selling out in <48 hours and subsequent daily stocks gone in <5 minutes each over two weeks.
- 440MM+ paid media impressions; 48 influencer pieces led to 2MM+ impressions.
Driving Bar Celebrations:
- SPTO Bonus: 154 placements, 30.6K entries (59% conversion rate vs. 2022 campaign).
- $25K donation, plus proceeds from the Desk Decoys were donated to the Restaurant Workers’ Charity Foundation.
- Review the confidential section for more results regarding driving bar celebrations.
