Dive Brief:

• White Claw on Tuesday introduced its “Claw Back Your Summer” campaign, according to a press release. The campaign is informed by a survey conducted by the brand that found 54% of employed U.S. consumers haven’t planned a summer vacation this year.
• Throughout August, consumers who follow the hard seltzer on Instagram can enter to win one of several vacation prizes, including a potential Hawai’i trip.
• The brand’s research found 24% of Americans will not use all of their vacation time this year. For those who go on vacation, 56% do not completely “unplug” from work while away.

Dive Insight:

With summer halfway over, White Claw is looking to take advantage of America’s need for a break in order to build its Instagram following while urging consumers to take some much needed rest and relaxation. With the benefits of vacation ranging from more fulfilled relationships to increased likability and career satisfaction, White Claw has an opportunity to associate itself not only with summer fun, but also self-care and relaxation.

Despite 41% of those surveyed indicating vacations help them to lead a more fulfilling life and 82% saying vacation time gives them the space needed to do things they love, large portions of the working public do not have a vacation plan. This trend has been observed outside of the survey conducted by White Claw, with Americans drastically less likely to be on vacation compared to in the 1980s.

"Summer should be all about fun and enjoying sunshine-filled days with friends, but we know most people haven't even planned a vacation," said Kevin Brady, vice president of marketing at White Claw parent Mark Anthony Brands Inc., in a statement. "As the creators of one of summer's most refreshing beverages, we want to help fans Claw Back their summer and maximize the season's potential with time to fully unplug."

With prizes ranging from an evening with a personal chef to weekend trips to Miami, White Claw is looking to establish itself as the beverage of relaxation and down time. The survey found that vacations have the ability to improve nearly every area of life, with 36% of survey respondents in a relationship saying vacation improves their relationship — a number that jumps to 45% when looking at Gen Z consumers that are key to the brand’s success.

While many consumers may fear that taking time off of work puts an undue burden on coworkers, the survey found that is not necessarily the case. In fact, 41% of employed Americans indicate they like their coworkers more after vacation and over half, 55%, say they are better team members and contributors. Going on vacation is also tied to financial success, with 47% of employed Americans who took a vacation having received a raise in the past 12 months, compared to only 29% of those who did not take vacation.

Following numerous attempts to claw back market share, White Claw is once again a leader in the increasingly crowded hard seltzer category. However, a rise in the popularity of canned cocktails hasn’t helped, with the hard seltzer category overall trying to hang onto relevancy against the increased competition. In December, t tooWHite Claw took advantage of the release of the highly anticipated “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” by releasing a limited-edition game as a way to drive brand awareness.