We Know What Makes Men Click

A sample of how we connect brands with Australian men

CASE STUDY

Inviting Australian men to 'flip the sip' on their tired cocktail repertoire

“We are extremely proud to bring the first spirit drink made of Cognac VSOP finished in bourbon casks to Australian drinkers and see our partnerships with DMARGE and some of Australia’s most influential venues key to its success.”

– Eric Thompson, Global Marketing Director, Pernod Ricard Winemakers

Brief

Pernod Ricard was looking for a publishing partner to create a digital campaign that would re-shape outdated cognac perceptions and recruit new consumers to Martell through its recent innovation Martell Blue Swift.

DMARGE won the pitch for this first ever ATL campaign for Martell in Australia, by proposing a unique approach to product and cocktails education, leveraging insights from its recent reader survey.

Insight

DMARGE found that young affluent men are masters of their own style, from owning a nice watch to perfecting a steak in the kitchen, but are often precluded from making a good cocktail at home.

Idea

The campaign idea was to convince Australian men to “Flip the Sip” on their drinks repertoire through an entertaining video series featuring the quick-witted fictional character “The Fantastic Mr Swift”. Mr Swift became an effective vehicle to engage Australian men so they would see cognac cocktails in the same light as the tried and tested Negroni or Old Fashioned.

Designed to target the audience at all stages of the consumer journey, the campaign included tactical socials and editorial to target specific occasions and audience segments to drive conversion and trial, i.e. Lunar New Year ads were translated into Mandarin targeting the young affluent Chinese population.

Capturing high-profile cocktail bars creating their own version of ‘The Swift’ cocktail, is a great example of how DMARGE executed the campaign through the line and gave the audience the opportunity to try Martell Blue Swift in venues near them.

Key Outcomes

  • Campaign Period: Nov 2020 – Jan 2021
  • Total campaign reach: 4.2 million
  • Campaign videos watched a total of 445,312 times
  • 3 minute hero video had 147,000 views with a completion rate of 65%
  • Chinese language ads reached 102,486 Chinese speaking Australians

ROI

  • Campaign drove significant trial of the product by exceeding last years performance:
  • Retail sales value grew 145% vs previous year
  • Martell Blue Swift became #1 growth driver in cateogry
  • Sales in key retailer Dan Murphy’s doubled during the campaign period
  • The campaign helped Martell to secure 20 new listings in Sydney bars, with 5 venues running the cocktail as a recurring special