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James Ready Drinkers of Awesomeness Bottles/Beer Grams

James Ready

Issue 24 | September 2012

Agency

Leo Burnett Toronto

Creative Team

Chief Creative Officer: Judy John Creative Director: Judy John, Lisa Greenberg Group Creative Director: Anthony Chelvanathan, Steve Persico Copywriter: Steve Persico, Marty Hoefkes Art Director: Anthony Chelvanathan

Production Team

Producer: Kim Burchiel, Gladys Bachand Photographers: Arash Moallemi, Jeremy Lewis Illustrator: Man Wai Wong

Other Credits

Group Account Director: David Buckspan Account Director: Natasha Dagenais Account Executive: Rebecca Simon

Date

April 2012

Background

James Ready Beer is always looking for ways to use its drinkers to recruit newcomers to the brand.

Idea

Using their newsletter, their Facebook page and by making an appeal direct from the labels on bottles, James Ready asked their drinkers to submit stories and pictures to J.R.’s Facebook page, describing what it was that made them so particularly awesome.

The brewery, with the help of drinker votes, then picked the 100 drinkers who they thought were most worthy. The stories and pictures of those drinkers were placed on bottles and put into cases and shipped off around Canada for all J.R. drinkers to see.

Now James Ready was able to generate much localized PR  in the hometowns of the celebrated drinkers.

This was followed up by J.R. Beer-Grams. When guys bought a case of James Ready beers, they could choose one of the stickers within to put on the outside of the carton before giving it to a worthy person.

Alternatively, they could go to the J.R. Facebook page, personalise a message, which was then printed as a sticker and mailed back to them. 

Results

Not known.

Our Thoughts

This is actually two separate campaigns from J.R, which we have turned into one. The theme common to them both is personalization. First they personalised the bottles, and, in so doing, turning all their drinkers into heroes, and then they personalised the boxes, making drinkers become givers (and receivers) or their friends’ largesse.

Almost everything Leo Burnett Toronto have done for this brand has been innovative and inspiring. The brand behaves like a friend. I hope it is growing like Topsy but that it never gets so big that new whizzy managers with marketing-savvy come in and get it to start behaving like a jerk.