Want to learn how Ballantine’s Bourbon Finish’s managed to increase brand awareness in-store and win an important award? We’ll tell you in this extended case study. Before we deep dive in the campaign, let’s see what’s the state of alcohol drinking these days.
Alcoholic beverages: Fewer people are drinking alcoholic drinks
In 2019, 8.4% of the EU adult population consumed alcohol daily, 28.8% weekly, 22.8% monthly and 26.2% never consumed or hadn’t consumed any in the last 12 months. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people tended to drink more alcoholic beverages at home.
However, now there’s a new trend. Younger adults are no longer drinking as much as older generations do. This, of course, can have a negative impact on alcoholic beverage sales, especially spirits and stronger drinks.
How can companies that produce alcoholic beverages attract the attention of shoppers? With inventive in-store marketing campaigns.
Robotic POP display creates a luxurious activation for Ballantine’s
For its brand of refined whiskey, Pernod Ricard wanted to create an inventive in-store activation. Ballantine’s Bourbon Finish is a high-quality whiskey had been aged for 7 years and finished in bourbon barrels.
Pernod Ricard’s objectives
For this campaign Pernod Ricard wanted to:
- Create an inventive campaign for its product
- Increase customer engagement at the point of purchase
- Increase brand awareness
Creative brand activation in-stores
Sales Service, Tokinomo’s distributor in Poland, implemented Ballantine’s Bourbon Finish in stores. This campaign was implemented in 50 shops. This campaign was implemented in just one day thanks to Sales Service’s efficiency and Tokinomo’s ease of use. The bottles of whiskey were then brought to life with the help of Tokinomo, the robotic POSM.
Want to see how the campaign looked? Check it out:
The campaign messages stated:
“Take a look! This is the newest edition of Ballantine's - seven-year-old American-style Scottish scotch Ballantine's Bourbon Finish. Would you like to try it?”
“Look! This is Ballantine's Bourbon Finish. It is the expressiveness and maturity of Scotch, aged for seven years, combined with a pleasant sweetness obtained by finishing in bourbon casks. Would you like to try it?”
The in-store campaign received the Golden Arrow award
One of the most unexpected results of this campaign was receiving the Golden Arrow award. Golden Arrow is one of the most well-known awards for marketing in Poland. The main goal of the competition is to showcase and reward the best and more inventive marketing tools and solutions. A jury of marketers selects those projects that will be a benchmark for the entire industry.
Sales Service receive the Golden Arrow award for Ballantine’s Bourbon Finish campaign. This is an amazing achievement and it shows that the campaign was a success.
Increase awareness in-store
Thanks to Tokinomo’s innovative solution and Sales Service's inventive implementation, Ballantine’s campaign managed to raise brand awareness in-store. This campaign had 703.718 activations. This means that Tokinomo brought the whiskey bottle to life over 700.000 times when shoppers passed by the shelf.
Engaged customers at the point of sale
As you might expect, a talking bottle of whiskey was an attraction in-store. This campaign managed to engage shoppers right at the point of purchase. Also, it persuaded customers to try out the new Ballantine’s Bourbon Finish.
Pernod Ricard accomplished all of its objectives
Despite all of the challenges that involve launching a new product in-store, during a pandemic, Ferrero managed to accomplish all of its objectives for this campaign:
- Found an innovative way to promote their product
- Increased awareness at the point of sale
- Benefited from word-of-mouth marketing
- Bonus: Won the Golden Arrow award
What Sales Service said about the impact of the campaign
Sales Service, Tokinomo’s distributor in Poland managed to implement a creative campaign that helped them gain the Golden Arrow award.
“We always want to offer the best solutions to our customers and we knew we needed to implement something creative and innovative for Ballantine’s. Choosing Tokinomo was the best decision for this campaign. Apart from bringing unexpected results, it also helped us receive the Golden Arrow award for the best campaign at the point of sale in retail marketing. We are honored to receive the award and thrilled about our next campaign with Tokinomo.”
Bartek Goławski, Chief Operating Officer at Sales Service
Ready to launch your product in an innovative way?
If you want to make your product stand out from the crowd, especially when it is new to the market, then you need to find a unique way to promote it. Ballantine’s campaign was a success and there are many other success stories of how FMCG brands used Tokinomo for their in-store activations.
Engage customers at the point of purchase!
Learn how Tokinomo can help you:
- Raise brand awareness
- Increase product visibility
- Increase shopper engagement
- Lift sales
- Acquire more customers
- Benefit from word-of-mouth marketing
