How We Built the Darke Spirit Campaign for J?germeister USA

When J?germeister asked us to elevate their brand and expand their market in time for Halloween, our?ad agency?pulled out the big guns: a multi-channel, interactive campaign and custom AR experiences at 125,000 geo-fenced locations across the US.

Background.

Founded in 1934, the German-born J?germeister has grown into one of the most iconic herbal liqueurs in the United States, moving rapidly through young adult culture throughout the ’80s and ’90s and earning its stay as a beloved spirit at college campuses. Nowadays, you can easily spot J?germeister at bars across the country, and the brand is a blue-ribbon presence with a household name, umlaut and all.

When J?germeister reached out to us, they came with a simple request — they were ready to expand their market to new consumers and tap into changing demographics with a fresh angle and message, and they wanted us to apply our 5–1–2 framework and shape deep relationships with consumers through unique experiences. The kick — it all had to happen in the run-up to Halloween.

With a strategy of leveraging J?germeister as a mysterious, invite-only adult-beverage experience, we devised an interactive, integrated campaign to match the energy and the mystery of the holiday. We knew we needed to take out the big guns to help evolve their brand and take a disruptive position. We wanted the people who knew the brand to directly engage with it in a novel way, and we saw a path forward for J?germeister to increase sales at retail locations. We could get their loyal following to reconsider the brand, all while reaching the few new consumers who might not be familiar yet.

Challenge.

As a brand name, J?germeister has deep and powerful roots in the minds of Americans, conjuring memories of celebrations and good times with friends and family. Yet, in the brand’s otherwise saturated industry, our first challenge was making the brand stand out during a festive time of the year, with only eight weeks to go from idea to campaign. The campaign also demanded the precise coordination of multiple agencies, data sources, people, talent, and crews to build the brand story and introduce two novel spirits to their official lore, the Ancient Oak and the Magician.

With a tech-savvy audience, our approach centered around digital platforms and mobile devices. We knew a multi-channel, interactive campaign would be the minimum required to elevate our positioning within the American market at the point of sale. Through a discovery process, our insights gave way to an idea that placed brand engagement at the point of sale, encouraged audiences to visit participating venues, and used mobile technology to geotarget over 125,000 locations simultaneously.

Take one part J?germeister. Blend in some augmented reality. Mix in a touch of fun-filled, tech-savvy mystery. And you get the ‘Release Your Darke Spirit’ idea.

Campaign.

Over the course of 8 weeks, with Halloween marking the climax of the season as well as the campaign, we produced a fully interactive, custom AR experience.

Our?advertising agency?reached out to the frontier of technology and got to work on the J?germeister brand’s first-ever interactive experience featuring augmented reality technology powered by 8th Wall technology and Amazon Sumerian. The core concept of the campaign was innovative and unexpected, allowing J?germeister to connect with people and their friends.

Through a partnership with Foursquare, the leading provider of location data, we were able to fully explore what was possible by blending frontier technology and our creative approach. By combining a web AR experience with Foursquare’s location data, we set up over 125,000 geo-fenced locations across the US, where we could deliver the crux of the campaign: the augmented reality experience where users could conjure the ‘Darke Spirit.’

During the execution of the campaign, and over 8 weeks between September and November, we unleashed the ‘Darke Spirit’ to the geo-fenced locations at bars, restaurants, and other participating venues, putting our creative assets and location-based rich media ads into action.

The ‘Darke Spirit’ experience went a little like this.

From one angle, we leveraged a mix of digital and traditional approaches. The ‘Darke Spirit’ ads were featured across broadcast & digital TV, point-of-sale collateral, programmatic ads, editorials, press mentions, and social media polls, allowing people to interact with the brand and generate an exponential amount of user content. We also built a microsite within the brand’s US presence to serve as the foundation of the campaign, funneling people to a participating location to enter the sweepstakes.

With the help of Celtra, we were able to connect with users on media-rich channels such as ESPN. The rich media units also contained a Google Maps integration and an alluring message if the person was near one of the participating locations.

Once the person arrived at the haunted location, we then served them a second set of ads that contained a few instructions. The ad instructed the person to open their camera app on their smartphone to trigger the experience. Then, through their smartphone screen, they would witness a ghastly ‘Darke Spirit’ emerge from a plume of smoke. The spirits, custom to each location and rendered in real-time, were conjured into the world and would mysteriously explore their surroundings. Once they settled into their environment, the spirits would recognize the participants with an ice-cold stare and invite them and their friends to come closer. Once together, the group of friends had ample time to pose and snap a photo with the spirit.

By recruiting the friends of J?germeister fans and participants through the attraction of the shared AR experience, the POS (in many cases, a bar or similar venue) was turned into a spectacle that got more people interested, allowing for the experience to be shared back and forth across the POS among new groups of friends.

The ‘Release Your Darke Spirit’ campaign was rendered in real-time on people’s smartphones, and it brought together a fun, Halloween-worthy AR experience with the power of social media. The experience also encouraged users to take pictures with their friends, recruiting them to the brand. When people posted their photo with the ‘Darke Spirit’ on social media with the hashtag #DarkeSpirit, they had the chance to win one of 16 exclusive Halloween-themed party packs from J?germeister.

Results.

J?germeister’s attention-grabbing AR campaign was brought to life through the combined effort of multiple parties under a single, unified vision.

Between September 1st and November 1st, the ‘Release Your Darke Spirit’ campaign generated millions of impressions in earned media in the U.S. alone, millions in engagement across social channels, and the campaign was integrated into the brand’s global celebration of the holidays. All over the world, people were snapping photos of the Darke Spirits and sharing them online, engaging with the J?germeister brand across social, news, and POS channels.

The Five.

We examined the relationship strengths between the J?germeister brand and consumers, uncovering where, exactly, the Darke Spirit campaign would thrive and engage.

What we found was that a campaign microsite on the brand’s US-based website could serve as the centerpiece to the entire campaign, a focal point online. Through banner ads/rich media units, our?marketing agency?could drive users to participating bars and venues. Social media polls would capture the event in real time, and the interactive AR experience and supporting campaign collateral would directly connect consumers and the brand in an innovative and unexpected way.

The One.

Backed by the five touchpoints, we organized the campaign production and execution under a single, unified vision. We targeted audiences across digital channels and mobile devices, as well as at retail locations. Through the campaign touchpoints, the AR experience drove more traffic to participating venues, all while bolstering brand loyalty at the venue and creating social engagement through a scalable brand experience.

The Two.

Over the course of the campaign, J?germeister earned millions in engagement from tracked mobile devices across social, web, and ad networks.

But that’s only where it begins. Through earned loyalty and referred demand, brand engagement at retail locations was riding an exponential curve. Each person to interact with the advertising and AR experience would involve their group of friends and, on average, recruit three additional people to engage with the campaign at the POS and social media. A 1:4 investment ratio.

The Work.

J?germeister’s attention-grabbing AR campaign was brought to life through the combined effort of multiple parties under a single, unified vision.

The Darke Spirits began as a concept that represented both the male and female demographic of the brand’s largest audience segments.

Both the male and female spirit bases were rigged and animated for 3D.

Banner ads were placed on relevant platforms through channel partners. Example of the hyper-targeted seasonal ads.

The first part of the sequential ad sets. This ad set targeted users who were near a participating location. Google Maps integration drove the user to the nearest participating location.

The second part of the sequential ad sets. This ad set targeted users who were already at a participating location. Users were prompted to begin searching their immediate surroundings for a Darke Spirit.

Social media posts that created branded, user-generated content. The web-based, augmented reality experience utilizing 8th Wall and Amazon Sumerian. Users posed with friends, uploading and sharing content with the campaign’s hashtag for the chance to win a J?germeister Party Pack.