Dive Brief:
- Diageo-owned rum brand Captain Morgan has named actor and comedian Adam Devine as its "chief party officer," according to news shared with Marketing Dive in an email. Devine stars in the brand's newly launched campaign aimed at instructing partygoers on how to live #LikeACaptain.
- As part of the push, Devine crashed the 30th birthday of a diehard fan by showing up with a DJ and a "shotski," or a ski for taking shots. Devine also brought along a camera crew and posted a 90-second video of the party crashing on his Instagram account.
- In the launch spot, Devine visits the Captain's house party, where he brings fun and a bottle of rum. The campaign rolled out on National Rum Day, Aug. 16, on social media and will debut on TV in October. Other digital content will also be released later.
Dive Insight:
With the latest campaign, Captain Morgan is aiming to build on its party-centric brand image and might appeal to millennial consumers who recognize Devine from his popular Comedy Central series "Workaholics," along with various movie roles. The reality show-esque party-crashing video and Devine's social media push could help the brand generate social media buzz among the actor's more than 2 million Instagram followers.
Captain Morgan's other recent marketing efforts have focused squarely on courting more younger consumers. In April, the company unveiled another iteration of its "#LiveLikeACaptain" platform, which was targeted at 18- to 24-year-old drinkers in the U.K. and ran on Facebook and Spotify. The spirits marketer partnered with grime artist Lady Lehsurr on Sponsored Sessions and video takeovers for the push.
These moves come as Captain Morgan, and rum in general, has been stuck in a rut despite a growing preference among U.S. consumers for spirits and wine over traditional power beer brands. While Captain Morgan holds the top spot among rum brands, beating Bacardi and Malibu, the company's sales dropped 1.6% to $220 million for the 52 weeks ended July 15, according to IRI data cited by Ad Age. Rum sales declined 1.3% to $625 million overall during the same time period.
