Mike’s Aluminum Anniversary

Consumer Activation Target
Regular Guys

Challenge
Mike’s Hard Lemonade is an independent brewer of malt-based, alcoholic beverages, competing against large spirit brands like Smirnoff (Smirnoff Ice) and Captain Morgan’s (Parrot Bay), and merchandised alongside beer.

Even more so than beer, Mike’s Hard Lemonade’s key selling season occurs between Memorial Day and Labor Day—representing approximately 60% of the brand’s annual sales. Securing early season display support, with activity continuing throughout the summer, is critical to Mike’s success. But display space is difficult to attain, as Mike’s is a small brand competing for the same valuable turf as big-spending beer behemoths ABInBev and MillerCoors. Mike’s not only competes with these brands for floor space, but also for share of mind from wholesalers, many of whom are aligned with these same brewers.

Our challenge was to develop a low-cost, turnkey promotion that emphasized Mike’s unique brand personality, while providing wholesalers and retailers with a disruptive promotion, and consumers with a compelling “Mike’s-like” offer.

Solution
To appeal to the irreverent nature of the Mike’s consumer, and to celebrate 2009 as Mike’s 10th Anniversary in the US, Alcone created Mike’s Aluminum Anniversary—aluminum representing the modern material of 10th anniversaries, and the metal of choice for our fun-loving target.

Alcone developed an under-the-cap sweepstakes promotion that gave away a bunch of shiny aluminum stuff—led by an Airstream trailer and an assortment of other aluminum/metallic-based prizes, like mountain bikes and laptops. Flexible in-store display materials and display enhancers, including Airstream trailer-themed POS, allowed retailers an infinite range of display options. Merchandising partnerships with complimentary grocery products, including aluminum foil, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs and Stubb’s BBQ Sauces, allowed retailers the opportunity to cross-merchandise throughout the store.

Results
Despite a challenging economy, particularly in the malt beverage/beer category, Mike’s has enjoyed its strongest year ever in 2009. Sales were up 12% vs. previous year, while they’ve grabbed 12 share points during this time—both in large part to the success of this critical summer promotion. Additionally, the UTC sweepstakes component generated 780,000 consumer entries for this promotion, exceeding Mike’s previous best by over 55%!