Results and Effectiveness

In the opening week of the promotion we received 14,000 mentions online. The winners became the centre of attention for the night, not only was it a great brand experience for them, but also as a walking billboards for Carlton Dry beer they helped recruit us 20,000 loyal 18-24 year old Facebook fans. But most importantly, Carlton Dry becoming the No.1 selling beer in all music venues throughout Australia, where we activated the promotion. And we established Carlton Dry beer as a credible sponsor of the music scene and got it back on the radar of a young fickle audience.

Creative Execution

18 – 25 year olds have one main medium they listen to; their peer group, so we decided to transform them into our main medium, supported by online and radio. They happily went to all the major music festivals and concerts wearing our branded clothing and advertising the fact they had 'sold out to Cartlon Dry'. The brashness of the messaging stimulated attention and conversation both at festivals and online. We used our Facebook page to announce we had tickets, sent targeted EDM's and placed banner ads on popular music sites, all of which created peer group discussion about Carlton Dry. All media was targeted and launched after music venues had sold out all their tickets, to create 'a fear of missing out'. Using digital channels and our target audience to advertise our brand established Carlton Dry as a brand that understood its audience and most importantly the music scene.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Carlton Dry beer was beginning to move its brand into the music space, with sponsorships of some of Australia's biggest music venues and festivals. It wanted to appeal more to 18-24 year olds, and recruit its next wave of loyal drinkers. However young people are pretty cynical about big brands getting involved with music, they are seen as corporate 'Sell Outs' and this insight shaped our idea; 'once it's sold out, you sell out to Carlton Dry '. A promotion that gave young people another chance to see their favourite bands after they had missed out on tickets, in return they had to attend the gig wearing our branded tracksuits with the words 'I sold out to Carlton Dry' on the back. We got talked about at music festivals, concerts and online. And had earned the respect of our target audience and the music scene.