Idea
Captain Morgan Rum, which recently launched in India, could not purchase TV advertising to build awareness due to government restrictions. Captain Morgan Rum competes with 2 brands that have enjoyed 20 years of presence and a combined 67% market share, in a high loyalty category. Despite the high brand preference, Captain Morgan Rum launched in India with an ambition of increasing awareness from 0% to 15%.
Captain Morgan Rum is aimed at light alcohol drinkers. Its target audience is the enthusiastic Indian young adult who sees 126 ads each day on TV, Print, Radio and the Internet. Not even one of those exposures was possible for Captain Morgan, due to Government restrictions. The competitors had adapted to Me Too product surrogates like CD, Soda, Fashion Shows, etc., for advertising which have no association with the brand.
The brand had a highly engaged and involved target audience that prefers television media. They needed to create awareness, and TV is the perfect media and the most effective media to engage and entertain Captain Morgan Rum’s target. Starcom’s insight was the creation of an opportunity in television that could make media a “surrogate” and engage the target.
Production
In a reality show, first time ever, Starcom created a real shack in a real beach in Goa. This was not a set but an actual shack which ran by the winner for 6 months.
The product was designed by keeping in mind the Captain Morgan's brand ideology and Captains characteristics.
On the programme, Captain Morgan challenged contestants on brand attributes– “Camaraderie,” “Clever Thinking,” “Masculinity,” “Bravado,” “Confidence & Popularity” and “Not taking life too seriously.”
Product was designed through "Video Diary" which captures the key essence of the task and translates that into brand ideology.
Brand fit
Captain Morgan’s famous pose was prominently integrated in the show logo and throughout the programme in order to drive brand awareness and recognition. The campaign began with a nationwide hunt for a “Dream Job- Run Captains Shack in Goa,” the “Party Capital” of India.
Starcom’s promotion directed consumers to submit entries online at the Captain Morgan India Facebook page. Fifteen contestants were flown to Goato compete for the job of running Captain’s Shack.
The thirteen-week show aired on MTV; “Captain’s Shack” had a terrific time slot, 7 pm on Saturday. On the programme, Captain Morgan challenged contestants on brand attributes– “Camaraderie,”“Clever Thinking,” “Masculinity,” “Bravado,” “Confidence & Popularity” and “Not taking life too seriously.” Attributes were brought alive through various tasks creating lots of fun and entertaining brand moments for viewers.
The property was highly promoted in Multimedia, engaging the target audience and delivering 13 weeks of inspirational positioned content for the brand.
Results
33 Million Enjoyed the Captain’s Grin
Captain Morgan became a welcomed visitor in the homes of 33 million viewers. The “Captain’s Shack” programme on MTV delivered growth brand awareness from 0% to 21% against -target of 15%, achieving 140% goal.
In a country where liquor advertising is not allowed, and one cannot run a 30 second ad on TV, the brand garnered 50,400 seconds of brand exposure over the thirteen-week series.
Captain Morgan learned how to advertise on TV, when you can’t advertise on TV
Captain Morgan Rum didn’t have to invest in surrogate brands—branded content became surrogate. So they created the largest con-gate, a media surrogate which became the first content-surrogate.
The unique blending of the insight that India’s youth are looking for more “Passion based careers” with the idea to create a medium to deliver on that desire, is truly what makes this media study unique. It is also a reminder to us all, that sometimes when a media door won’t open, you need to create a new door in the media.