Brief:
- Diageo's Captain Morgan spiced rum brand started a contest on Instagram that will award one winner with a "Captain's Night In" house party, according to an announcement. To enter, Instagram users need to follow the Captain Morgan Instagram account and explain why actor Adam Devine and Captain Morgan should "crash" their party.
- Contestants need to use the hashtag #CaptainsNightInContest in their explanation. Captain Morgan and Devine will select a winner and visit the holiday house party on or around Dec. 15. Captain Morgan will provide food, décor, holiday sweaters, cleanup service and a $500 gift card, among other items, according to the contest rules.
- Captain Morgan's online store also is selling branded merchandise including sweaters, onesies, jumpsuits and body pillows shaped like Captain Morgan. The "Captain's Night In" contest runs until midnight on Dec. 5.
Insight:
Captain Morgan's Instagram contest is part of the brand's broader holiday campaign that includes events at liquor stores. The campaign arrives as people stock up on alcoholic beverages for holiday parties leading up the New Year's Eve. The brand has about 100,000 followers on Instagram, and almost 4,000 users have "liked" a post announcing the contest.
The brand continues to capitalize on Devine's party animal persona and appeal to millennial fans of his shows "Workaholics" and "Adam DeVine's House Party" and films like "Pitch Perfect," in which he also appears. Captain Morgan previously name Devine the brand's "chief party officer" as part of a similar campaign in August.
Captain Morgan's holiday contest is the latest social media campaign for a liquor brand. Jägermeister last month ran a Halloween-themed promotion that let Snapchat users click on virtual Tarot cards to see their "cocktail fate." Pernod Ricard's Glenlivet, Rémy Martin, Patrón tequila, Diageo's Bulleit Bourbon, Ole Smoky Distillery and D'ussé cognac have all developed smartphone-based campaigns that aim to prolong brand exposure.
Liquor brands that want to reach young adults need to be careful about avoiding underage audiences. Diageo, this year, suspended all Snapchat advertising after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.'s advertising watchdog, said the company failed to ensure that one of its Captain Morgan rum campaigns wasn't seen by individuals under 18, the U.K.'s legal drinking age, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. That suspension had a chilling effect on liquor advertising on Snapchat. However, Heineken, Mast-Jägermeister and Campari recently returned to the image-messaging platform after receiving better guarantees that minors won't see their campaigns.
